Healing
by Rosimae
Summary: Companion piece to chapter 5 of Broken, or: Other legends aren't so fond of Jack Frost becoming a Guardian. Rated T cause of blood, that and I'm paranoid.
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: **Alright, you all asked for it, so here it is! Sorry it took so long to post, things have been stressful with graduation and job interviews. But I was feeling rather down today after an interview gone bad for the job I desperately want, so I decided to write some things._

_So, for those of you who have read this before, I've just added in Walter Turkey, since he is in Broken. I can't believe I forgot him! Thank you, SkyHighFan for pointing that out to me! Extra frosted cookies to you :)_

_**Disclaimer: **I still don't own Rise Of The Guardians  
_

~~RiseOfTheGuardians~~

Hennalie had just finished collecting the last tooth on her list for the night and was heading home. She clutched the precious memory carrier to her as she flew over the hot sands of Pakistan, and as she flew, she heard a commotion.

Now, Hennalie was a good tooth fairy; she had always prided herself on getting her tasks done quickly and efficiently, no fuss involved. But then Jack Frost had entered the picture at Tooth Palace.

The winter spirit had become a frequent visitor to the grand halls of the tooth fairies, and Hennalie inevitably felt herself sucked into his orbit, and found that she enjoyed life more because of it.

Jack Frost taught the tooth fairies how to have fun, how to play, how to laugh. Not to mention, he had very white teeth.

But the one thing Jack Frost had instilled in Hennalie above all else was curiosity.

He was curious about everything to do with Tooth Palace, what the fairies did, how they knew who lost teeth, everything, and he was constantly asking questions and exploring new things.

Which made Hennalie start asking questions and start exploring more while on her duties.

It made her take longer than she used to, but she found she learned more than she ever thought possible, and she learned she enjoyed it as well.

So, when Hennalie noticed the commotion, out in the deserts of Pakistan, she grew curious. Flitting over, she noticed a group of legends surrounding something curled up on the sand.

And she felt her eyes widen in surprise when she realized just what held the legends' attention, and what they were doing.

She felt fury build up within her and found she wanted nothing more than to go over there and give those legends a piece of her mind!

But she knew she could do no real good on her own, she was only a little fairy, and there were at least five legends surrounding the winter Guardian, who was the focus of their brutal attacks.

So Hennalie forced herself to turn her back, though it broke her heart, and she flew as fast as she could back to Tooth Palace. Queen Toothiana would know what to do, would be able to help Jack Frost much more than Hennalie could by herself.

"Oh, there you are," Toothiana squealed as Hennalie flew in. "And look at that beautiful tooth, it's perfect, look how-"

Hennalie stopped her queen before Toothiana could say another word. She squeaked in distress and quickly explained what she had seen.

"You are sure?" Toothiana asked, already flying out of Tooth Palace. Hennalie nodded in confirmation as three other fairies surrounded her, all asking her questions about what she had seen.

She noticed that Jenalie, or as she had been nicknamed by Jack himself, Baby Tooth, looked the most distressed. Which was understandable. Jenalie had become very close friends with Jack Frost over the months they had known each other, and was always interested in what was happening with her friend. They flew as fast as they could through the icy winds and into Santoff Claussen, where they found North working in his office.

Not bothering with hellos, Toothiana quickly launched into an explanation of why they had come.

"What!" North bellowed as soon as he heard Toothiana's report, causing Hennalie to flinch. "You are sure?"

Hennalie nodded, cowering slightly as North narrowed his eyes in anger. The Guardian of Wonder could be a frightful man when he was angry, and although Hennalie knew that anger was not directed towards her, it was still a frightful thing to behold.

"Phil, get sleigh ready," North ordered to the yeti beside him before he turned and activated the aurora borealis.

Hennalie watched as the colored lights lit up the darkening sky, and prayed that the others would hurry. She wasn't sure how injured Jack was, and knew he needed help soon.

"Jenalie, Sharilie, Houslie," Toothiana called and the other three fairies fell to attention, still looked rather worried. "I need you three to get back to Tooth Palace."

Jenalie immediately protested, fluttering from side to side in agitation. She didn't want to go back, she wanted to help them find her friend, make sure that he was well.

"I know, I KNOW," Toothiana shouted, cutting Jenalie off. "Jack is precious to all of us and we all hope he is well. But we cannot let the children down, no matter how dire the situation. Jenalie please, I'm putting you in charge of the other fairies while I take care of this. I promise to let you know what is happening as soon as I can."

Jenalie fluttered nervously for a minute longer, still reluctant, before she left, Sharilie and Houslie following behind.

Hennalie chirped at Toothiana, asking is she, too, was to report back to Tooth Palace.

"No," Toothiana said. "We need you here to help us find where Jack is."

Hennalie nodded, turning as the doors flew open and a very upset looking Bunnymund marched through.

"This had better be good mate," Bunny said, tapping his foot and looking impatient at being call away from his warm warren and into the cold reaches of the north.

Sandman appeared shortly after, flying in on his golden sand plane. A question mark formed above his head as he landed, clearly asking what the summons was about.

"Jack's in trouble," North said as way of explanation, already on his way to the sleigh. Hennalie followed her queen, who was close on the heels of North, and after a minute of silence, the others followed as well.

"Now why doesn't that surprise me?" Bunny asked, watching in apprehension as the sleigh was brought out, stomping reindeer and all.

It was always a great source of amusement to Hennalie and the other fairies to witness the great Easter Bunny, afraid of flying, but now Hennalie could only fret that they weren't moving fast enough.

"Is other legends attacking him," North said. He hopped into the sleigh, Tooth settling behind him as Hennalie perched on her queen's shoulder. The others jumped in after a moment, all looking stunned at the news that had just befallen their ears, and with a quick flick of North's wrists, the reindeer took off running.

"WHAT?" Bunny finally managed to ask. He knew the kid could be annoying; after all, he himself wanted to strangle the winter spirit on occasion, but for the other legends to actually attack him. That was simply unheard of.

"That's what Hennalie saw," Tooth said, gesturing to the little fairy who had witnessed what was happening to Jack.

"And she was sure?" Bunny asked.

"Positive," Tooth replied as Hennalie ruffled her feathers and chirped in affirmation.

"Aye, yie yie," Bunny said, glancing over at Sandy. Sandy looked livid, with small sandstorms whirling around him in his anger.

The sleigh flew through a portal that North created and after another minute, they arrived in Pakistan.

"Alright, Hennalie," Tooth said, looking at the little fairy. "Where do we go from here?"

Hennalie flew up, looking around for a minute, afraid she wouldn't be able to find the spot, but then she saw them, the group gathered around the silver haired boy.

Hennalie pointed, and within seconds the others spotted what Hennalie had. North's hands clenched furiously on the reigns and he carefully landed the sleigh not far from the group surrounding the figure in the blue hoodie.

"STOP!" North boomed, jumping out of the sleigh and drawing his swords. "What is it you think you are doing?"

Bunny followed with his boomerangs drawn while Tooth fluttered nearby and Sandy wielded his golden whips, which glittered in the brilliant desert sun.

Hennalie flitted beside her queen, anger and anxiety warring within her as she glanced at the figure curled on the sandy ground.

"Teaching him a lesson," Groundhog said, and Bunny's ears lowered in anger and hatred as the rodent kicked Jack in the side, eliciting a groan from the teenager.

"Stop, now," North said, slowly and calmly, although everyone could hear the barely veiled anger in his voice.

"Why are you doing this?" Tooth asked, voice dangerous, although Hennalie could hear the tears underlying the hardness there.

"Because," Walter Turkey said with a snarl. "If there is to be a new Guardian, it should be one of us. Not some _child_ who only creates more trouble than he's worth."

Tooth growled, preparing to throw herself at the others and knock some sense into them.

"He doesn't deserve to be a Guardian," April spat. Sandy's eyes narrowed as he noticed the woman was holding Jack's staff in her hands.

"Is not up to you," North said. "Man in Moon say Jack's a Guardian, so he is Guardian."

"And he's bloody proven he's a Guardian, too," Bunny said.

"Proven he's a Guardian?" May laughed. "He's no Guardian. He can't even protect himself." With that, she added a vicious kick to the teen's head, causing the boy to groan and blink blearily.

Sandy shot sand from his ears. He hadn't failed to notice how hot it was, or how humid, and he could feel the wind's weak attempts at trying to get to Jack through the humid air. Of course Jack couldn't protect himself in this weather, it had to be at least a hundred degrees out and Jack was a winter spirit. He wasn't meant for this type of weather.

North's eyes narrowed, dangerously. "I would expect something like this from Pitch's allies and like-minded, such as Bloody Bones and the Hag. Not from those with common goals. You should be ashamed. Jack never asked to be Guardian, he had position thrust upon him in troubled times, but he exceeded even that of which we could do.

"He was there to help stop Pitch, to protect the children. None of you were available; none of you came to our aid. Never did you once ask if we needed help. And even when Jack refused to be Guardian, he still helped. That's right. He refused position, rejected the company of others. But when time came, he was there. He protected the children, gave the children hope back. He saved us all from the world Pitch would have created. And this is how you repay him?"

May opened her mouth to say something, but North waved his hand.

"No, don't want to hear excuses. Just leave, now."

May closed her mouth and hung her head, suddenly ashamed of what she had just done, of what she had participated in. After all, she had no quarrel with the winter spirit. She had never met the boy until now. All she knew was what her sister had told her, complained to her about the awful winter spirit that was constantly behind schedule and attempting to frost May over if April didn't chase him away.

But still, the winter spirit had never bothered her before, and yet, here she was, attacking him. May knew it was wrong, knew she shouldn't have gotten so worked up over the upset stories of her sister, who could be volatile and moody, emotions roiling through her like the storms she heralded.

May sighed, wishing that in some way, she could take back what she had done. But she knew that was impossible. Like so many things, the past could not be undone. So slowly, she turned around and walked away. A gust of flower petals swirled around her, and she was gone.

Summer Heat glared at the Christmas spirit for a minute longer, but memories came back to her, unbidden, unwanted, of a time, perhaps 200 years ago. She had brought a particularly hot summer that year, because that was what Mother Nature dictated, but it had been hard on the people she brought it to.

Crops failed and livestock died. Children suffered in the heat she spread and all around her, the world dried, becoming nothing more than tinder.

Tinder that lit during a lightning storm. Tinder that threatened to burn a nearby village, threatened to kill the children of the village.

And Summer could do nothing, for she could only bring the heat.

And then Jack Frost was there, riding the cooler storm winds as he flew up into the lightning clouds that were heavy with rain. But Summer knew, even if the rain fell, it would evaporate in the heat, for the was much too hot.

However, minutes later Jack Frost emerged and dove towards the earth, the wind bearing him down like an avenging angel.

And with him came the rain, frozen at first but quickly melting and falling on the raging fire below, damping the earth and snuffing the flames from existence. And Summer realized, Jack had frozen the rain so it wouldn't evaporate in the heat, so that it would make it down to the fire.

Summer had watched on, too stunned to move, as Jack Frost worked, putting out the fire. No one had asked him, no one would. After all, Jack Frost was nothing but trouble, a spirit made and forgotten.

And once the fires were put out, and the rain was falling gently, Summer turned to watch as the children rushed out of their houses to dance in the chilly rain, cheering as the melted snow washed the rest of the smoke from the air. And Jack Frost danced among them, laughing in childlike happiness before being born up again by the winds.

And then he was gone and Summer, not knowing what else to do, had carried on with her work. But she had promised herself she would never forget how Jack had saved those children. Never, because he had done what she could not.

Summer Heat blinked back the tears, because she had forgotten that day, until North's raging had brought it back. She had forgotten what Jack had done for her, how he had spared her from having to live with the knowledge that she had destroyed that village, however inadvertently.

And this was how she had repaid him? Summer let the tears fall as she turned away, knowing she could not mend the damage done. The sand swirled around her, and she was carried off, away from the sight of her horrible misdeed.

Walter Turkey paused and looked down at the teenager curled at his feet. He felt his heart constrict as his beady black eyes took in the damage they had caused the winter spirit.

_What am I doing?_ Walter asked himself, stumbling backwards. Never had he had a disagreement with the boy he had just attacked, never had he had a problem with him. In fact, he had gotten along famously with Jack Frost, because his holiday celebrated prosperity in times of harshness. His holiday was about thankfulness and being with others as the snow came and turned autumn into winter.

In fact, his holiday probably wouldn't exist without winter and Jack Frost.

_What have I done?_ Walter wondered, taking another step back. While he wasn't sure he considered the boy a friend, after all, he was rather immature, he did consider Jack an acquaintance, one he had spent several Thanksgivings with in fact. And now, now he may never have the chance to call the boy friend. All because he became blinded by jealousy. Jealous because _he _was not chosen as the next Guardian.

And now Walter knew why. He didn't _deserve_ to be a Guardian, after all, Guardians _protected. _They didn't attack.

Walter sighed and turned his back on the boy. He didn't deserve to be around the boy anymore, didn't deserve to even try to apologize at this time.

Leprechaun backed away, green eyes suddenly horrified at what he had done. He had allowed his jealousy to go unchecked, had acted without thinking, and now, now. Leprechaun swallowed hard as his stomach churned.

He remembered the first time he had met Jack Frost, some 150 years ago when the winter spirit had found the end of his rainbow and the pot of gold. Leprechaun had been furious at being caught, but knew that he could do nothing but grant the kid all his gold, if he asked. And though it pained Leprechaun to part with his gold, he knew he must if asked.

But Jack had just laughed, said he had had an amazing time tracking it down and could Leprechaun please donate a couple of coins to a certain family that was suffering poverty because their little boy was sick and in need of a doctor. A doctor that only money could call.

And then the winter spirit had flown off, not asking for a single coin for himself.

And Leprechaun had been stunned. Of all the things the boy could have asked for, he wanted Leprechaun to give a couple of coins to a suffering family?

So, stunned, Leprechaun had delivered his coins, two of them (after all, the winter spirit had said just a couple) by slipping them under the door of the family's house. He then sat back and watched as the door was flung wide, a teary eyed mother looking up and down the street.

"Gods bless you!" The mother called, before the door closed once more.

Later, when Leprechaun was in the area once more, he checked in on that family. It was the beginnings of winter then, but Leprechaun was still shocked to see Jack Frost watching the same house Leprechaun had come to check on, was still shocked to see the smile that lit the winter spirit's face as a young boy exited the house.

And was shocked when he heard the faintest of whispers echo from the winter spirit.

"Thank you, Leprechaun. I don't think he would have survived without your gold."

Leprechaun didn't know if Jack had known he was there or not, for the winter spirit had been whisked away by the wind after that, but Leprechaun had never forgotten that warm feeling that ignited in his chest as he watched that little boy skip merrily down the street, mother in tow.

And Leprechaun knew it was all thanks to Jack Frost, really, that the child was alive. Because he never would have parted with those two tiny pieces of gold otherwise.

And now, Leprechaun could not believe he had done this to the boy who had helped him realize how good it felt to help people, to give service. Ashamed, Leprechaun backed away slowly from the glares of the Guardians, those protectors of childhood. He blinked once, twice, and vanished, knowing he would never be forgiven for what he had done. After all, who could forgive him? He would never forgive himself.

Groundhog met the eyes of his rival, that pesky Pooka whose tunnels were always getting in his way, and felt a savage bit of triumph at seeing the despair on the bunny's face.

After all, Bunnymund deserved what he got, he was always getting the way of Groundhog's travels, and always flaunting that he was more important than Groundhog, despite the fact that Easter wouldn't be possible if Groundhog didn't chase winter away.

But then he looked at the white haired teen who lay at his feet. The spirit who caused him so much trouble, and yet helped him to have fun. Groundhog still remembered that first year he had met Jack Frost, nearly three hundred years ago. He had just popped his head out of his hole, ready to declare winter over, when a snowball caught him full in the face.

The frozen water had very nearly frightened him to death, and he had retreated back into his hole for safety. He learned that was the first year winter was allowed to reign for six more weeks.

The next year, Groundhog was ready. He appeared slowly, carefully, and ducked the snowball thrown his way. Laughter filled the air and he caught his first glimpse of the winter spirit.

"Not getting away with it this year, boy," Groundhog had declared, hopping from his hole and dodging another snowball. He then proceeded to chase the winter spirit away, watching as the wind caught the boy up and whisked him off to colder climates.

After that, it became a game. Year after year Jack Frost would attempt to hit Groundhog with a snowball, and year after year, Groundhog would attempt to dodge the flying snow and chase the boy off to bring spring to the area.

And as the years flew by, Groundhog found he enjoyed their game, found himself waiting year after year, excitement coiling through him as he anticipated his next meeting with the winter spirit and who would win.

And he remembered the year that Jack had shown up, looking exhausted and beat up, but elated. No snowballs came that year and instead Groundhog found himself catching the winter spirit as he collapsed, muttering about cupboards and bloody bones.

Jack Frost didn't stay long though, as Groundhog listened to his incoherent mumblings in shock, and he was soon whisked away from the area, making Groundhog the winner that year.

It wasn't until later that Groundhog heard the story of the fight between Jack Frost and Bloody Bones, who had gone on a rampage upon escaping his cupboard under the stairs and killed eleven kids before Jack stepped in and stopped him.

But Jack showed up the next year just the same as all the others, lobbing a snowball at Groundhog and beginning their game, and Groundhog never had the chance to say anything to the kid about the matter.

But now, looking at the beaten form of that same kid he had spent so many years playing with, Groundhog felt guilt curl in his stomach. He was ashamed to admit, even to himself, that the main reason he had done this was to get back at Bunnymund, to prove to that oversized rabbit that Guardians weren't all that special.

But now Groundhog realized that Guardians were that special, as he realized that never once had Jack raised a hand against them, even in defense. Realized that Jack hadn't fought because he viewed them as friends, which made their betrayal all the worse.

And he realized that he had taken his frustrations out on the one Guardian he might have called friend. Horrified, Groundhog stumbled away, and with a touch of his left front paw, opened a tunnel for himself and disappeared.

He may never again have a snowball fight at the beginning of spring, and it was all his fault. Groundhog felt sick.

April fumed as she glared at the Guardians, twisting the winter spirit's staff in her hands. For years she had had to deal with this bratty teenager, chasing him off so her sister, May, could bring about Spring.

For years she had worked hard, done her job well, and yet this bratty teenager, who only ever acted like the world were his playground, was the one chosen as a Guardian, and it just wasn't fair.

The winter spirit was nothing special, a nuisance, really, and they should all be glad to get rid of him. Right?

But then, why were the others leaving?

April turned to watch as the others fled, one by one, leaving her to face the Guardians alone, the cowards.

"Jack's staff," North said, looking at April. "Hand it over."

April tightened her grip on the staff, such a fragile thing to hold so much power. She could solve all her problems right now; never have to deal with that annoying boy or his powers again. All she had to do was…

She twisted it in her hands as Bunnymund hopped closer. "Give it here, mate," Bunny said, reaching forward, but still keeping his distance.

Tooth flew over to Jack as another groan escaped the teen's lips, Sandy close behind, and settled by the teen's head, ruffling his hair. She blinked back tears at the dirt and blood that met her fingers.

Sandy settled by Jack as well, and Tooth felt her anger boil up as she noticed the rose vines twined around the teen's wrists and ankles, thorns dug into the pale flesh. Sandy noticed this too, and with lips pressed into a thin line, he cut the vines, gently removing them from the torn up wrists and ankles.

"You want it?" April asked, and all four Guardians' focus snapped to her. April smirked in satisfaction. At least she could end her troubles here, now. Then she would go to have a talk with the others that deserted her. After all, she needed to know why they were all suddenly cowards. "Fine, take it!"

She slammed the wood, mid-shaft, over her knee, feeling satisfied as it splintered, before throwing the broken pieces to the stunned Pooka. A scream, filled with such anguish and pain like April had never heard before, rent the air and April turned startled eyes on the winter spirit as his whole body tensed, and then went lax.

"What did you do?!" Bunny shouted, grabbing the two pieces and advancing in anger.

"How dare you!" North shouted, gripping his swords tighter.

"Jack, Jack," Tooth was whispering frantically. "Hang on, just hang on."

April backed away from the enraged Guardians but a golden whip lashed out and suddenly she was pulled towards the Sandman. For the first time since the Guardians showed up, April felt real fear. She had never seen Sandman look so angry, and it was all directed at her.

The look said everything crystal clear, even if Sandman never said a word. It told April, in no uncertain terms, that if she ever came near Jack again, she would not be leaving the confrontation alive.

With that, the golden whip flung her away, and she slammed into the ground. She got up slowly and staggered away as the Guardians all surrounded their fallen comrade.

"Oh Jack," Tooth fluttered over the now unconscious boy, fingers still running through the dirty silver hair. Tooth was scared. She wasn't sure what breaking his staff would mean. Wasn't sure he was still alive. But she was too afraid to check.

"Ah mate," Bunny said, settling beside Tooth. He too, seemed scared to touch the boy, for fear of finding out he no longer breathed. What happened to a spirit once their conduit of power was broken anyway? Bunny didn't know.

Finally, Tooth laid a trembling hand against Jack's cheek, but pulled it away in shock. Jack's skin was hot, which was not good for the winter spirit whose skin was normally ice cold.

"He's burning up," Tooth said, fear lacing her words. Hennalie fluttered beside her to settle on the winter spirits chest. There, she felt the faintest flutter of his heart and she prayed he would be okay.

"We need to get him back to North Pole," North said, before scooping up the teen and carrying him to the sleigh. North was surprised at how light Jack was while holding him in his arms. The boy really was just that, a boy. He was also not oblivious to the blood that covered the boy, or the bruises that were forming on the exposed skin, and it worried him.

Because even though it was rare, immortals, even Guardians, could die if they were injured too badly. And North did not know if the breaking of his staff would have pushed Jack to the point he could not heal.

But for now he took comfort in the fact that at least the boy was still breathing, and as long as he was still breathing, North held to the belief he would be okay. Eventually.

Because, what else could he believe?

The others clambered into the sleigh around Jack's prone form with grim expressions and North took off, flying through a portal back to Santoff Claussen.

Bunny hunkered down in the sleigh and clutched the broken staff in his hands, watching the shallow breathing of the boy who was quickly becoming like an annoying younger brother to him.

Tooth brushed Jack's hair away from his face, tears tracking down her cheeks. Jack had become more than a friend to her and Tooth found that seeing him like this broke her heart. She watched as Hennalie nuzzled Jack's cheek, chirping softly, and sobbed as this gained no response from the boy.

Sandy watched the boy closely as he felt the wind curl around the sleigh, wrapping the boy in an embrace and bringing chill air around them all in an attempt to cool the boy off. Jack had become the little brother Sandy never had, but had always wanted. The one always getting into trouble, the one who always came to Sandy for advice, or to show off. The youngest in the family.

And now, that brother was hurting, attacked by people like him for what he had been chosen to do. It made Sandy angry, and sad. Sad because even now that Jack was a Guardian, it looked as though the others still couldn't accept the boy. Sandy still remembered all those nights he had spent with Jack before he was chosen as a Guardian, sitting on his golden cloud and playing together. He hoped he would still have nights like that with Jack.

North tightened his grip on the reigns as the reindeer landed at Santoff Claussen. He wanted to say it gave him better control of the landing, but he knew that wasn't the case. He tightened them to stop his hands from shaking.

"Phil!" North called as he jumped from the sleigh. "Bring all the medical supplies you can carry to Jack's room." He turned to the others, helping Bunny lift Jack gently from the sleigh. "We'll treat him there, it'll be more to his comfort."

The others nodded as they clambered from the sleigh, but Sandy paused, looking at the spot Jack had lain on in worry. There was a large amount of blood there, which meant the winter spirit was bleeding profusely from somewhere.

Realizing this, Sandy raced off after the others. The sooner they got to Jack's room, which North had prepared for the boy even after he had turned down the invite to live there, the sooner they could treat his wounds.

~~RiseOfTheGuardians~~

_Well, that's it for now. I must say, writing this has helped me feel much better as I was feeling so down earlier today. Nothing like writing out the woes of others for comfort, right?_

_Hope you enjoyed reading this! I really didn't mean for it to be a two parter, but it seems like it will be. Hopefully I can update soon, but we shall see!_


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Okay, so I went to post this this morning, and I have no clue what happened, but the story was deleted off my computer! I am so mad about that, because I was really happy with how it turned out. So now you get this, which is only half as long as the original and not as good, but seriously, I have no idea what happened. Stupid technology.

I'll try to update soon, life's just been insane and now I'm preparing to take boards, which is super scary! AHHHH! I don't want to, I don't want to! I HATE HATE HATE tests!

Well, enough of my ramblings, here's the next part!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Rise of the Guardians.

~~RiseOfTheGuardians~~

No sooner had North gently laid Jack down on his bed than Phil was rushing in with armloads of medical supplies. He set them down, and then looked at the winter spirit lying unconscious and bleeding on the bed.

"Blarug remun?" Phil asked, watching as North pulled one of his knives out and cut the sweatshirt from the boy.

"I don't know Phil," North said as he worked steadily with the help of Bunny to get the remains of the torn and bloodied clothes off Jack.

Phil nodded, shifting from side to side, stressed. Jack was his friend, even if he did cause a lot of trouble, and Phil didn't want to see the boy like this, he didn't deserve what had happened to him. But he understood that right now, no one knew what would happen to the boy.

Tooth fluttered anxiously as North and Bunny managed to get Jack out of his sweatshirt and pants, covering him up to respect his privacy.

"Oh my gosh!" Tooth said, her eyes widening and tears threatening to fall once more as the injuries Jack had sustained came into full view.

Sandy came into the room then, holding the two pieces of Jack's staff.

"Sandy," North called. "Need your help."

Sandy set the pieces of the broken staff to the side and floated over until he was hovering over the winter spirit.

Jack was stirring, his face twisting into a grimace of pain, and Sandy understood what North wanted. Not sure how this would affect the boy's health, but knowing that letting him writhe in pain was not an option, Sandy sprinkled some dream sand onto Jack, pouring the best dreams he could make into the teenager.

Jack's face slowly smoothed out, the tension leaving his body once more as the dreams took over.

North nodded as Jack relaxed once more. He knew that the cleaning and bandaging of these injuries would not be pleasant. He himself had suffered from injuries that took time to heal, and knew from experience that it was not fun.

"We need to clean these," North said. "Where is?" But Phil was already handing North a basin filled with clean, cold water, and a stack of gauze.

"Thank you," North said. "Bunny, hold him up. Tooth, I need you to help clean the cuts around his wrists and ankles."

"Right," both Bunny and Tooth answered. Bunny gently took hold of the winter spirit, supporting him so that North could get a good look at his back.

Sandy's eyes narrowed dangerously once more as he caught sight of the wound that was causing Jack to loose so much blood.

"Ah, mate," Bunny said. "What did they do to ya?"

"What is it?" Tooth asked, fluttering up to look at what had caught their attention. She gasped at what she saw.

There was a large gash in Jack's shoulder, deeper than any of the injuries he had elsewhere. Blood was slowly seeping out, running down the pale back that was now marred with bruises.

North clenched his fist around some gauze, dipping it in the frigid water before wringing it out and bringing it up to the gash. He began cleaning the wound with a gentleness that spoke of care.

"Tooth, start on his wrists," North said, knowing that if he didn't direct her, she would continue to stare in horror at the deep gash he was now cleaning.

Tooth nodded, before flitting around to settle in front of Jack. Taking one of his hands, she shakily accepted a second basin of cold water from Phil and submerged Jack's hand and wrist in it. She shuddered as she put her own hands it, using some gauze to scrub around the cuts. It was hard, because she knew that it would hurt, but she also knew that Sandy was keeping a close watch on Jack, and wouldn't let him wake up to feel this pain.

Once North was done cleaning the gash to Jack's shoulder he accepted the suture material from Phil, and ignoring his numb from the cold fingers, closed the gash with quick, precise movements in a neat line of stitches. The worst wound now taken care of, and with Tooth cleaning where the rose vines had dug into Jack's skin, North set to work cleaning and bandaging the rest of the cuts on the boy's body. They were everywhere, and North had to clench his jaw shut before he did something he would regret.

Not that he thought he would regret giving those self-centered idiots a good beat down. Not now that he'd seen the extent of damage done.

It took them several hours, but finally they were done patching Jack up. He looked like a bizarre mummy with his patchwork of bandages, the thickest of which were around his chest, shoulder, wrists, and ankles. North slipped an oversized shirt over Jack for him to sleep in, and after changing the sheets, which were bloodied from the work they had done, he and the others settled Jack down to sleep.

Tooth brushed Jack's now damp and clean hair from his face, looking worried.

"He's still so warm," she said.

"Don't know how," Bunny said. "It's bloody freezing in here."

"Not cold enough for the spirit of winter though," North said. He walked over to the large windows that adorned three of the four walls and began to open them.

Sandy flew over to another one, opening it and smiling as the wind raced in and danced around the boy, ruffling his hair.

"Gonna bloody give us frostbite," Bunny muttered, but he opened the last window, getting caught with a flurry of snow to the face.

He spluttered, shivered, and stomped back to the bed.

"Do you think that will help?" Tooth asked, looking once again at Jack.

The Guardians all turned their eyes on the unconscious figure on the bed, whose chest was rising and falling slowly. A white bandage was wrapped around his head, making him look paler and more fragile than any of them thought their youngest could look.

"I do not know, but I believe it will," North said. "I can feel it, in my belly."

Tooth smiled at that.

Sandy waved his arms, catching everyone's attention, and formed a series of pictures over his head. Jack's staff, the boy curling up and screaming in pain as the staff was broken, a snowflake melting, and a question mark.

All eyes turned to the broken staff that lay on the table in the room.

"What are we going to do about that?" Bunny asked.

"What do you think it means for Jack?" Tooth asked.

Sandy flashed the picture of Jack and his silent scream of pain once more.

Bunny nodded. "It obviously hurt quite a bit when that happened or something equally unpleasant, but we won't know the extent of it until he wakes up."

"If he wakes up," Tooth said. "What if he won't, now that his staff is broken? What if he'll never wake up?"

"He will," North said, because he couldn't imagine the alternative. Couldn't imagine it because Jack was becoming like a son to him, and he didn't want to think that Jack was now lost to him. "Jack is strong."

"Are you sure?" Tooth asked.

North wanted desperately to say yes, he knew, just _knew,_ that Jack was going to be fine. But he couldn't. He didn't know for sure, found himself doubting slightly the words he had spoken as that heart-wrenching scream echoed in him mind.

"Oh Jack," Tooth said, brushing a hand through the white hair once more. "You've got to be okay. You've just got to be."

"We could try fixing it," Bunny said.

"Fixing it? Jack's staff?" North asked.

"Yeah, I mean, why not, I bet one of us could do it. After all, you make toys from all sorts of things, Sandy creates dreams from sand, and well, we might be able to do it."

Sandy nodded his head in agreement. It was their best plan.

"Okay," North said. "Let's see if we can fix it."

"I'll take first watch with Jack then," Tooth said, settling down on the edge of the bed beside the boy. "I don't want him to wake up alone."

"Right," Bunny said. "Well then, let's fix his staff before the icicle decides to wake up."

Bunny gathered the broken staff and left the room, glad to be back in the warmth of the rest of the factory. With a final glance at Jack, North and Sandy followed, Phil right behind them. They would find a way to fix Jack's staff, they had to.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **HAPPY NEW YEARS! Hope you all get your New Year's wish and and keep your New Year's resolutions!

On another note, wow, I just can't seem to keep this fic short. It seems the more I write the longer it gets, even though I only planned to make it a one, maybe two shot.

Oh well, I guess I can keep at it as long as people keep reading it. So, for your New Year's enjoyment, here's the latest installment!

**Disclaimer: **Rise of the Guardians does not belong to me, sadly enough...

~~RiseOfTheGuardians~~

North stared at the two pieces of the staff, which sat atop his work bench. They had brought over various item that they hoped would be of use in fixing the staff, including wood, wood glue, super glue, screws, nails, all kinds of tools, paints, and chewing gum, although North was sure the elves had put that there.

After all, who would think chewing gum could fix a broken staff?

"Well," Bunny said, also eyeing the array of tools. "Who wants to try?"

"Hmm," North thought. He wanted to fix the staff, but he was worried that in their attempts to make it better, they might end up making it worse.

Sandy, also fearful of making things worse but knowing they needed to try, floated forwards, picking up the wood glue.

"Good idea, Sandy," North said. He held up one end of the staff and Sandy dabbed a large glob of the glue on the broken end.

"Well, here goes nothing," Bunny said, picking up the other piece. He raised it and touched it to the end covered in glue, focusing. North held his half steady as Bunny lined up the splintered edges until they matched.

"How long does it take to set?" North asked.

"Slurgus," Phil replied, watching the process.

"Two hours!" Bunny yelped, also pulling the two halves apart but stopping just in time.

"At least," North said with a sigh. "Better get settled in to hold like this. Don't want to mess it up."

"Frostbite better appreciate this," Bunny said, sitting on the tall stool that Phil produced for him as he kept his half of the staff steady.

North followed suite as Sandy floated there, watching them.

He made a picture of Jack, then Tooth shivering with snow falling around her.

"Yeah, yeah," Bunny said, waving the little sandman away. "You just don't want to sit here."

Sandy smiled and waved, before disappearing back to Jack's room.

It was freezing in the room, with snowdrifts forming in the corners and the wind curling protectively around Jack. Golden dreams danced above Jack's head, dreams of snowball fights and dolphins. It always fascinated Sandy that Jack dreamed of dolphins, considering that they were a warm water mammal, but he also knew they were Jacks favorite.

"Sandy, how is it going?" Tooth asked, standing up. She was shivering and frost coated her feathers.

Sandy made a picture of glue, North and Bunny holding the staff, and a clock.

Tooth giggled. "You mean they have to sit there and hold the staff together?"

Sandy nodded.

"For how long?"

A two appeared above Sandy's head.

"Two hours?" Tooth laughed. "I bet Bunny's loving that."

Sandy smiled, laughing silently.

"Well, if you want to watch Jack for a while, I'll go check on them. I'm freezing in here, but I think its helping, Jack feels cooler at least. Although that's the only change, so I don't know if that means anything. It might be that I'm just too cold to notice if he's hot or not so, well."

Sandy held up a hand to stop Tooth's rambles. He smiled at her, pointed to himself, then to Jack.

"Alright," Tooth said. "But let us know if anything changes, okay? I'd better check on my fairies anyway and see how they're doing. And update them to Jack's status, otherwise we'll be overrun by them here."

With that, Tooth flitted out the door, leaving Sandy to settle next to the unconscious winter spirit.

Sandy watched Jack's dreams for several minutes, and noticed as they began to fade and shift. This was a natural part of dreaming, Sandy knew, but he didn't like how Jack was reacting to this new level of dreaming. Jack's face scrunched up in discomfort and he let out a slight whimper.

Sandy, worried, reached out and brushed the golden sand that was slowly fading above Jack, bringing it back to a shining brilliance.

Jack's face slowly smoothed out and he relaxed once more as the dream sand showed him playing with Jamie and the other children.

Sandy smiled. He was happy he could help his friend with this, at least.

Back with the staff, things were not going quite so well.

"My arm's gonna bloody fall off," Bunny complained.

"Then switch the hand you are holding the staff with," North said. They had been sitting there for an hour and a half, having told Tooth they were fine, and North was beginning to loose patience.

"I have," Bunny said. "They both hurt."

"We don't have much longer to go," North said.

"I know, I know," Bunny sighed, falling silent. North was relieved. His arms were hurting as well, and listening to Bunny made them feel worse. But, if this helped Jack, North was willing to suffer a little. After all, he had tired his arms out worse then this practicing his sword fighting all those years ago.

North's stomach rumbled, and he realized it had been quite some time since he had eaten.

"Where are cookies?" North bellowed, his whole body shaking with the yell.

"Careful there mate," Bunny yelped, attempting to keep the staff stable.

"Sorry," North said, realizing he had almost ruined all the work they had done.

They sat in silence for several more minutes.

"Time yet?" North asked as several elves came running in with plates of cookies. Much to North's chagrin, he couldn't reach down to them without jostling the staff.

Phil shook his head, an amused glint in his eyes.

North sighed, glancing wistfully down at the cookies that were just out of reach.

"I'm back," Tooth called, flying in through the window to look at the two other Guardians. North was still staring at the plate of cookies as the elves danced around, trying to make themselves taller so he could reach them. Bunny was glaring at North, carefully passing the staff from one hand to the other, letting the one that had just let go drop as though it were about to fall off.

"How are things going?"

"Almost done," North said, stomach rumbling once more.

"Oh good," Tooth said, settling beside them to study where the wood was glued together. It wasn't the prettiest job she had seen, but she knew North could sand it and Bunny could paint it over until it looked perfect once more. She just hoped it would still allow Jack to use it.

"Slargua," Phil said, stepping up beside Tooth and poking at a glob of the glue with his finger.

"Should be done," North said.

"Do you think it worked?" Bunny asked, afraid to let go now that the time had come.

"Only way to find out," North said, letting his half go. They all held their breaths as they watched the staff carefully.

It held.

"Thank goodness," Tooth breathed.

"Glad I didn't work my arms off for nothing," Bunny said, twirling the staff lightly in his hands.

As Bunny caught the other half in his hands, they heard a crack, and watched in horror as the work was undone, the other half falling to the floor and leaving them right back where they started.

"Crikey!" Bunny yelped, dropping the other half.

"Was the glue not dried yet?" Tooth asked, fluttering anxiously.

North bent down, poking at the glue stuck to the broken ends of the staff.

"Is dry," North declared.

"Then why didn't it work?" Bunny asked.

"Perhaps wood glue was not strong enough?" North asked.

"Wait, would that have affected Jack?" Tooth asked, suddenly feeling sick at the idea.

"What?" Bunny asked, not understanding her question.

But North understood, and started running for Jack's room. "Breaking staff hurt Jack," North explained. "We stuck staff back together. Did breaking it again hurt him more?"

"Crikey, I didn't think of that," Bunny said as they burst into the room.

Sandy was floating beside Jack on a golden cloud, reading a book with glasses on his nose as streams of golden sand branched out from him and raced across the world. It was harder to send his dreams the farther away he was, but it was possible.

He looked up, startled, as the other three Guardians burst into the room, panting.

"Is he okay?" Tooth asked.

"Any changes?" North practically bellowed at the same time.

Sandy shook his head, eyes wide in shock at the distressed look on their faces. A question mark formed above Sandy's head as he wondered what was going on.

"We thought, well, the wood glue didn't work and the staff re-broke, so we thought that, well," Bunny trailed off, unable to voice the idea that they had hurt their friend.

Comprehension dawned on Sandy's face and he smiled, shaking his head. A picture of Jack sleeping peacefully formed above his head and he pressed a finger to his lips, motioning to the still unconscious Jack.

"So, he's okay?" Tooth asked. "He didn't react to anything?"

Sandy shook his head.

"That's good," North said, sinking to the floor on suddenly weak knees. "That's good."

Bunny nodded and they all stared at the white haired boy.

"So, what now?" Bunny asked.

Sandy showed a picture of the earth, and children sleeping.

"Sandy's right," Tooth said. "I need to get back to Tooth Palace as well and check on Jenalie and Hennalie. Jenalie was doing okay when I checked, but things were getting a bit crazy. And both of them, along with the rest of the fairies are quite distressed about Jack. I need to make sure they are still doing their jobs."

Bunny nodded in understanding.

"We shall have to try again later," North said with a sigh. He wished they could continue trying, but knew they all had things that needed done. They could meet again once things were settled once more.

"Right," Tooth said, and she and Sandy both zipped out the still open windows and off into the night.

"I'll sit with him for a bit mate," Bunny said, pulling a chair over beside Jack's bed.

"Good," North said. "I need to check on how Yeti's are doing with toys. Christmas is coming soon."

Bunny rolled his eyes. Christmas was always coming soon, even if it was the day after Christmas.

"I be back in few hours, find me if anything happens," North said before heading out the door.

"Will do," Bunny said, hunkering down in the chair and wrapping a blanket around himself that he had pulled off the bed. Jack didn't need it after all, and he was cold.

North sighed as he reached his workshop, and clenched his shaking fists. Seeing Jack so still and hurt had been harder on him than he cared to admit, even to the other Guardians, who he trusted the most, and it made his stomach churn, causing him to feel slightly nauseous.

He sank down into his chair beside the roaring of his fire and covered his face with a large hand, heaving in a shaky breath. He looked out the window, catching sight of the moon.

"Ah, Manny, what are we supposed to do?"


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **Hey everyone! Sorry for taking so long to update! Life's been a little (read EXTREMELY) busy, I've been a little (extremely) depressed about not getting the job I wanted, not to mention I've got a little (again...) hooked on a game I got for Christmas and well, it's taken me longer to update that I had thought it would, so I'm sorry, again, for taking this long to update.

Unfortunately, this is a short little filler chapter where nothing much happens. Sorry, I started writing with the full intent to make another chapter full of excitement and fixing Jack's staff, but this is what happened. I promise I will come out with a longer chapter soon! By Wednesday at the latest is my hope. But for now, I hope this will tide you over!

ENJOY1

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Rise of the Guardians so please don't sue me ;)

~~RiseOfTheGuardians~~

North didn't check on the progression of the yetis. He knew that they knew what they were doing and so he didn't feel pressed to peek over their shoulders and make sure everything was okay. This was, in fact, a first for North, because he normally had to know how everything was coming along.

However, given the circumstances, North figured he had a good excuse. Instead, he locked himself in his study and sat by the roaring fire, fighting to get his emotions under control.

North felt responsible for what had happened to Jack, he couldn't deny that. After all, he was one of the legends, a Guardian to say the least, which had ignored Jack for so many years. Ignored him except to deliver him coal on Christmas. And like for so many other things, the other legends had followed his lead.

The others had ignored and shunned Jack Frost just as North had, and North found he was more ashamed of that than anything else in his life.

How would things have been different, if North had listened to Sandy and extended a hand of friendship to the young spirit? North sighed, burying his face in a hand. The past could not be undone, North had learned that from his mentor, Ombric.

As North sat by his fire for several hours, listening to the crackle of the flames and becoming lost in thought, Bunny watched over Jack.

It unnerved the Pooka to see the teenager lay so still as Jack was never still. He was constantly in motion, even if it was just his intelligent eyes roaming over the land as he perched impossibly on his staff. He always seemed so full of life and excitement and energy. But now…

Bunny shifted, pulling the blanket closer to him, for warmth and comfort. Jack looked so lifeless, lying there. Pale as snow with blue tinted lips. Bunny couldn't decide if this was good or not. In a normal human, he knew it was bad. But for a winter spirit, Bunny hoped it was good. After all, Jack was always pale, and blue meant cold, which was good for a winter spirit, right?

"Come on, mate," Bunny whispered. "You gotta wake up. I promise, I won't even get annoyed with you if you do. I'll bully North into getting you off the naughty list, anything, but you gotta wake up. After all, whose gonna prank me all the time, challenge me? Whose gonna teach us all about how to deal with children if your not around?"

Jack shifted slightly, face scrunching up, and Bunny leaned forward, hope rushing through him like adrenaline. But Jack settled once more, falling back into shallow breathing and stillness.

Heaving a sigh of disappointment, Bunny leaned back in the chair again. "I'm sorry, mate," Bunny said. "I'm sorry this happened to ya. I shoulda been there for ya. After all, that's what big brothers are for, to protect their younger brothers, and though I haven't been a brother to ya before the whole mess with Pitch, I feel like I am now. I wish I could go back and change things. Wish I coulda known you before the mess with Pitch, instead of ignoring you. But I can't change that. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry that I was never there for you before. And that I'm not doing a good job of it now. I'm sorry I don't even know what to do to make it up to you, if anything can even be done."

Bunny shifted uncomfortably in his chair. He had never been good at expressing emotions. After all, he was a Pooka, he didn't need to express his emotions. But he felt Jack deserved to hear the truth, even if Jack would never actually remember him saying them.

"Ya gotta be okay, mate," Bunny said. "Cause we got a lot of catching up to do."

A soft knock came on the door and Bunny turned as North peeked his head in. "Any change?" North asked.

"Besides my backside freezing off?" Bunny asked, trying to lighten the mood. "Nah, he's still out of it."

"Go warm up," North said, coming fully into the room. "I will watch him for now."

Bunny nodded, standing up and passing the blanket to North. "You'll need it," he said, before exiting the room.

"Ah Jack," he heard North sigh as the door closed behind him.

Tooth fluttered around her palace, sending out her fairies to collect teeth and fielding the questions of all of them who were worried, which was, in fact, all of them. Jenalie and Hennalie stuck by her and no amount of shooing would get them to leave and go collect teeth. They wanted to be there in case any news came of Jack, and truth be told, Tooth didn't have the heart to send them out when they were so worried.

She wanted to be back at Santoff Claussen with Jack, and found herself cursing her duties for the first time in her life. If only she got a break every once in a while! If only she could take a day off! But she couldn't, not if she wanted to keep the hopes, dreams, and memories of the children from fading from existence.

So she stayed, watching the sky for any sigh of the aurora borealis, which she knew North would activate should anything happen. But the skies stayed clear as she watched her fairies come to and from around the world, carrying the teeth of children and bringing them treasures in return.

And for every fairy that returned with a tooth, she would have to assure it that there was no new news. She knew it wasn't a bad thing, but wasn't entirely sure it was a good thing either.

Tooth sighed. She wished she had taken the time before to get to know Jack, back when her fairies had first told her about him. How he flew around the world, how white his teeth were, and how lonely he seemed. She wished she could go back to when she had first heard about him and seek him out, befriend him.

But there was nothing she could do. Time could only move forward and to change the past would mean to bring destruction to the world.

Sandy sent his dreamsand out, soothing the dreams of children and bringing smiles to sleeping faces. He floated over the little town of Burgess, catching sight of Jack's lake. It was the height of summer here in this little town, and the lake waters were gently lapping at the edges of the shore.

Sandy frowned, flying closer. No matter how hot it got here, Jack never let his lake unfreeze. Sandy wasn't entirely sure why, but he assumed it had to do with the fact that Jack had claimed the lake for his home, and a frozen lake was a better home that a warm water one.

But now, with Jack unable to come back and refreeze it, the lake had melted. And this unsettled Sandy more than he wanted to admit.

Because it meant that Jack's powers were lessened to a great degree, for Sandy had known the lake to stay frozen even in the hottest of summers, when Jack could not make it there. It was one of the greatest mysteries of Burgess, one that children now knew the secret to, but one that still baffled the adults, not that many adults ever stumbled upon the forever frozen lake.

Sandy frowned, worry for his friend curling in his stomach. He turned his gaze towards the sky, but no magical lights illuminated the night, which meant no change.

Raising himself higher once more, Sandy drifted over to the Bennett house. He always paid special attention to the Bennett's now, because they were Jack's first believers, and the ones that had saved them all. Peeking in the window, Sandy smiled as he saw the dream that danced over Jamie's head. It was of Jamie and his friends having a snowball fight with Jack. It seemed Jack was not the only one who found comfort in this dream.

But even as Sandy watched, Jamie's dream turned. The sand Jack fell and disappeared, and sand Jamie and his friends were left alone, abandoned, staring at the edge of a lake of unfrozen water.

It seemed Sandy wasn't the only one alarmed at the sight of Jack's lake. Sandy reached out, brushing at Jamie's dream once more. He watched as the sand lake froze, and a laughing sand Jack Frost landed on the surface and threw a snowball into sand Jamie's face.

The sleeping Jamie relaxed once more, the small frown that had formed smoothing out into a smile.

Nodding his head in approval, Sandy rose above Burgess. His work here was done, and he was anxious to return to Santoff Claussen. Shaping his sand into an airplane and adjusting his aviator goggles, Sandy sped off back to the North Pole to check on his friend.

He hoped he could make Jamie's dream a reality, because he didn't dare think of what it could mean if he couldn't.

~~RiseOfTheGuardians~~

So, there you have it. Like I said, I will update soon, I promise. I've just got an early day tomorrow, and so need to get to bed. I hate working day shifts, they mess up my whole sleep schedule! And with school starting, my sleep schedule is going to be screwed up beyond belief! Gosh darn it!


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **So, I couldn't make you all wait until Wednesday and so I am posting this. It's not very long, sorry, but it should tide you over for a while, right? (Runs and hides)

Hope you enjoy it and thank you all for the reviews and advice! And the favorites and follows, you are all awesome and deserve cookies! Frosted cookies! ;)

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Rise of the Guardians

~~RiseOfTheGuardians~~

Once again the Guardians were gathered around North's workbench, staring apprehensively at Jack's broken staff. Sandy had opted to watch over Jack as the others decided what to do this time around, and North, who found sitting in Jack's room for extended periods of time miserable because of the cold, had only been too glad to let the Sandman take over.

But now here he was, standing with the others facing the same predicament they had had before.

Jack's staff was still broken, and with no change in Jack from when it had happened to now, they were getting very worried indeed. The injuries Jack sustained shouldn't have kept him under as long as this, which only meant that it was his staff that was affecting him.

"What should we try now?" North asked, glancing at the various items on the bench.

"Do you want to try the super glue?" Tooth asked. She had finally escaped Tooth Palace after promising Jenalie and Hennalie and all the others that she would keep them updated as to Jack's status if they kept up the good work in collecting teeth. While the minis weren't happy that they couldn't be here for Jack, they had reluctantly agreed. For how long though, Tooth wasn't sure.

"Oh, no," Bunny said. "My arms just about fell off yesterday holding that piece of wood together and waiting for the glue to dry. I say we try something else."

"But what if wood glue was not strong enough?" North asked. "Super glue much better, right Phil?"

Phil shrugged his shoulders.

"It could work," Tooth said. "And it seems like our best bet, after all, there's not much harm to come to the wood from putting glue on it, so…"

"Fine, fine," Bunny said, picking up half of Jack's staff. "We'll try it again. And it better work."

North happily picked up the other half and Tooth dabbed some glue onto either end.

"Do more," North instructed. "So we make sure it is covered completely."

Tooth complied and soon Bunny and North were holding the two ends together.

"So, how long will this take?" Bunny asked, feeling slightly apprehensive about the answer.

"Slaruis gusi," Phil replied.

"Super glue dries super fast," North said. "Phil says half hour."

"Oh good," Bunny said, feeling much better about that arrangement.

Several minutes ticked by as the three Guardians stared at the staff, watching the glue slowly harden.

"What if this doesn't work?" Tooth asked, breaking the silence, apprehension in her voice.

"It'll work," Bunny said, although he wasn't sure if it would or not. He just hoped it would, because he wanted it to so that he could help Jack.

"But what if it _doesn't_," Tooth said. Her mind was fluttering through scenarios faster than her wings, and the one she could not stay away from was the possibility that Jack might _never_ wake up.

"You must believe," North said. "That is magic right there."

Tooth nodded, she knew how powerful belief was.

"And, if it doesn't work," North added, because he himself was beginning to have his doubts. "We try something else."

Tooth nodded, settling down next to the two other Guardians and crossing her fingers, praying that the super glue worked.

Phil, who was standing guard at the door to make sure the trio were uninterrupted, crossed his own fingers, staring at the staff and willing it to fix. He wanted Jack Frost back, wanted to chase the winter spirit around the workshop and play with him, because he always enjoyed playing with Jack Frost. That was why he had never told North about the boy's repeated attempts to break into Santoff Claussen before he became a Guardian. He had wanted the boy to continue to come back because Phil enjoyed their games of chase.

~~RiseOfTheGuardians~~

Upstairs, Sandy was sitting vigil, keeping a watchful eye over Jack. But Jack was now in the phase of sleep where dreams no longer thrived, so Sandy had no idea what was going on in Jack's mind. He hoped the boy was sleeping peacefully, but couldn't be sure.

He didn't want to worry the others by letting them know that Jack was no longer dreaming. It could be a good thing; meaning Jack had fallen into a healing sleep. But it could also mean that Jack no longer dreamed because his mind was no longer there, because he was no longer there. And that idea frightened Sandy, more than he would admit.

Because, if Jack was no longer there, then it meant he was never going to wake up again.

Sandy sighed silently and brushed a hand against the teen's forehead, but no dreams sprung to life. Worry churned in Sandy's stomach, but there was no need to worry the others with this knowledge.

It was the same reason Sandy had forgone telling them about Jack's melted lake. They were worried enough as it was, stressed enough as it was. Sandy didn't want to add to that. So he kept it bottled up inside of him. After all, he was the big brother here; he was needed to protect the others.

Sandy brushed the hair from Jack's forehead, a mantra repeating silently in his head.

_Please Jack, be okay, please, we need you. Wake up._

~~RiseOfTheGuardians~~

"Do you think it's done?" Tooth asked, hovering over the staff.

"Let's give it another ten minutes, just to be sure," Bunny said. It was a testament to how badly they all wanted it to work that no one disagreed.

North and Bunny had held the staff together, ignoring the ache that built up in their abused arms as they held steady and prayed it would work.

Ten more minutes ticked by, each sitting in silent apprehension. "Well, we should try," North said. "I believe it will work."

"So do I," Bunny said.

"Me too," Tooth squeaked.

Nodding, North closed his eyes and let go. Nothing happened for several seconds and North peeked open an eye to look at the staff.

"Did it work?" Tooth breathed.

"I-" Bunny began, but before he could continue, the two halves split apart once more, the end not in Bunny's hand dangling from the other, only attached by a string of dried super glue.

Bunny resisted the urge to toss the two pieces to the ground, although it was a close thing. North cursed in Russian and Tooth let out a long, high-pitched wail.

"It should have worked," North said once everyone had calmed down slightly. "Why didn't it work?"

"How should I know, you're the one who uses this stuff," Bunny said, picking up the bottle of super glue and chucking it across the room to where it shattered. Doing so was not as satisfying as Bunny had hoped it would be.

"Well, what if we didn't align it up properly," North said.

"Oh no, you are not blaming this on me," Bunny said. "I had that aligned perfectly, and I know these things."

"Well, it wasn't my fault," North said.

"Nor mine," Bunny threw back.

"Guys!" Tooth shouted. Both turned to stare at her. "I don't think it was anyone's fault. Maybe super glue just isn't meant to fix magical staves."

"But then, what is?" North asked.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **Alright, here's the next part, as promised, on Wednesday! Yay! And it's relatively long...relatively... Hope you enjoy it! And thank you all for your reviews (which are an absolute favorite of mine and the reason I continue to update), favorites, and follows! You are all awesome!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Rise of the Guardians. If I did, I certainly would not be spending my time working full time and putting myself through school and writing fanfics on the side for stress relief ;)

~~RiseOfTheGuardians~~

Sandy eyed them all skeptically as they held out the two halves of the staff towards him. The glue had been carefully removed from the broken ends, leaving the staff in the condition it had been before they had tried to fix it.

"So you see, we are thinking staff can only be fixed by magic," North concluded.

A question mark appeared over Sandy's head, followed by an arrow pointing to the others.

"You have the most magic out of all of us," Tooth said, fluttering next to Sandy.

"Yeah, your dreamsand is pure magic," Bunny said. "We figured, maybe that would do the trick?" The last part was said as a hopeful question.

Sandy thought about it, glancing between the others, the staff, and Jack, who still lay motionless on the bed. Sandy's brow creased in worry. Over the past two hours, Jack hadn't even moved, not even a scrunching of his face to indicate discomfort, and that worried Sandy more than anything else.

"Please, we have to try," Tooth said.

One last glance at Jack and Sandy decided, 'what could it hurt?' He held his hands out and the staff was handed to him. It was almost three times Sandy's height but he held the two broken ends together and concentrated.

He called his dreamsand and wrapped it carefully around the staff, filling it with the image of the staff whole and new. Filling it with the idea of the staff mending itself, becoming whole once again.

Sandy didn't know how long he focused on that, focused on what the power the staff held and what it represented. But after time passed, he felt his dreamsand shift, pulling away from the wood. The sand seemed to scream, to writhe beneath his command and Sandy dropped the staff, startled.

The two pieces clattered to the floor, no closer to being fixed than when it was just broken.

Sandy stared at the staff lying on the floor, and at his dreamsand, that lay scattered about it before fading into twinkling light once more.

Sandy blinked, not knowing what to think. The staff had outright rejected his magic. It had forced it away.

"What happened?" North asked, looking from Sandy to the two pieces and back again.

Sandy looked up, a picture of the staff, snowflakes billowing around it and forcing Sandy away forming above his head.

"It rejected your magic?" Bunny asked.

Sandy nodded, shoulders slumping. He had failed his family, hadn't been able to help, and that hurt all the more.

"But, what does that mean?" Tooth asked. She was perched on the bed beside Jack, running a hand through his hair.

"Is it, could he?" Bunny asked, studying the figure on the bed but unable to fully form the thought out loud.

Sandy cast a mournful glance at the bed, at the too still figure lying on it.

"Sandy," North said, apprehension building up in him. "Has he moved since you got here?"

Sandy turned to North. He was afraid of this question, because he didn't want to confirm his fears. Make his fears everyone's.

"Sandy?" Tooth asked, her hand curling into the white hair.

Sandy shook his head slowly.

"Is he...is he dreaming?" North asked.

Once again, Sandy shook his head.

"But then," Tooth said, bringing a hand to her mouth.

North stood there, too afraid to say anything else because he was afraid he would break down if he did.

Bunny looked at his fellow Guardians, then at the boy, his best friend, his _brother,_ that lay so still on the bed, chest rising and falling slowly. He felt his ears droop. If it weren't for the rise and fall of that chest, he would say the boy was already gone. That they had already failed.

Bunny shook his head. He couldn't accept that, _wouldn't _accept that. There had to be _something_ they could do.

"Don't think like that," Bunny said, hoping over to the bed and putting a comforting paw on Tooth's shoulder. "He's probably just dropped off into a healing sleep. You know dreaming is impossible in that state."

Sandy nodded encouragement and agreement.

"But the staff," Tooth choked out.

"We were being silly," Bunny said, trying to make himself belief this as well. "Dream magic to fix a staff of winter magic? I mean, why would it work, the two magics have nothing in common."

Sandy nodded at that. It did make sense and would explain why the staff rejected his magic.

"So we need ice magic to fix?" North asked, finally gaining control of his voice once more, though it cracked slightly. The other Guardians pretended not to notice.

"That would be my bet," Bunny said.

"Which leaves you North," Tooth said. "Bunny and I couldn't do it, our magic deals with memories and Springtime."

"And you do make those toys out of ice, so you have ice magic," Bunny pointed out.

"Is true," North said, nodding. "Very well. I will give try, but must craft ice first. Unlike Jack, I cannot make it out of nothing."

The others nodded and Tooth fluttered up. "While you're doing that, I'm going to go check on my fairies."

Sandy also floated up, creating his airplane around him and indicating that he too, was going to get some work done.

"I'll sit with the icicle then," Bunny said, resigning himself to more frostbitten toes.

"Very well," North said. "Meet back here in four hours and we will try again."

The other's nodded, and each headed off. Bunny watched Tooth and Sandy until they disappeared, then turned back to face Jack.

"Hey," Bunny said, pulling the chair slightly closer and staring at Jack. "Listen here, mate. You gotta wake up, you hear me. We need you, so you gotta wake up. I mean, we've only just gotten to know each other right? And there's so much more to know. So you can't just go checking out, you here me?"

Bunny sighed, leaning back once more. A non-responsive Jack Frost was not so fun to intimidate. "Come on Frost, just open your eyes," Bunny muttered. He waited apprehensively, wishing Jack would sit up and laugh it off like it was all some big joke. Just another prank he was pulling on them all.

But the winter spirit remained as still as death.

~~RiseOfTheGuardians~~

North settled at his desk with some of his magic ice and began crafting it into a cylinder. As he crafted he poured images of the staff, of it's power, into the ice, infusing it with the knowledge of what the staff was supposed to look like and what it was supposed to do.

North wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do, but it felt right, and North had learned to trust his feelings. Especially when they came from his belly.

He had posted Phil outside his door, with specific instructions NOT to be interrupted. For anything. This was delicate work and North knew that if he lost focus for one second, he could ruin the magic.

He smoothed the outside of the ice once more before hollowing out the inside, just wide enough to slip the two pieces of the staff in to.

He studied the staff, forming the grooves and imprints in the inside of his ice sculpture carefully to match the grooves and curves of the delicate wood. Once that was done, he carved complicated symbols on the outside of the cylinder. Symbols that stood for power, healing, mending, anything he could think of that might possibly work.

~~RiseOfTheGuardians~~

As North bent over his workbench, carefully crafting the ice that would, hopefully, fix Jack's staff, Tooth checked on her fairies. It seemed that things were slightly more disorganized without her there, and many of the fairies were refusing to go on more collection runs until they were updated on Jack's status.

"Jenalie, what is going on?" Tooth asked as she fluttered in to a crowd of fairies.

Jenalie squeaked and explained that they all wanted to know how Jack was, that they were sick of being kept here when their friend was injured and in trouble.

Tooth sighed. She knew it wasn't fair of her to keep her fairies away from Jack, they were close to him, had become good friends with him, many of them had even been friends with him before he became a Guardian.

But Tooth wanted to spare them the sight of Jack, looking so pale and hopeless. So lifeless. It was hard enough for her to see him in his condition, she didn't want her fairies to have to go through that.

"Jack's, well," she didn't know quite how to explain his condition. "We think he's in a healing sleep," Tooth finally said, because the other explanation for no dreams was just too horrific to consider. "He's still out of it completely. I know you all want to be there for him, but right now, there's nothing we can do. Nothing _to_ do except wait. And we all can't wait with Jack. So I need you all to be strong and keep up with the good work. Can you do that for me?"

The fairies all muttered amongst themselves, debating on whether or not they could. Jenalie and Hennalie were having the hardest time, the former because Jack truly was her best friend, the one who had saved her from Pitch and nicknamed her, the latter because she had seen the extent of Jack's injuries.

"Please, for now we need to keep the children of the world believing in us, because if we loose that belief, we loose everything."

Finally, Tooth got her fairies to promise that they would continue to work hard, as long as she let them check on Jack once he was awake and feeling better.

Tooth just hoped Jack woke up. She hadn't told her fairies about Jack's broken staff, didn't want to worry them about that, because, as she had told North, their magic was useless when it came to fixing anything, especially a winter staff.

So Tooth got her fairies organized once more, because, while she couldn't do anything physical for Jack, she could help the children of the world continue to believe in them. And belief, Tooth knew, was very powerful.

~~RiseOfTheGuardians~~

Even though it was day over Burgess, Sandy couldn't stop himself from checking on Jack's lake once more. He held onto the belief that maybe, just maybe, he had seen things wrong last night. That maybe the lake was still frozen.

But flying over the lake in broad daylight, he saw how wrong he was. The water sparkled in the sunlight as the breeze gently tugged the water into small ripples and waves.

Sandy saw a small, brown haired figure sitting by the lake, staring out at it.

_Jamie,_ Sandy thought. He floated downwards, landing beside the boy and startling him slightly.

"Sandman," Jamie yelped, looking at the little golden man.

Sandy tipped his hat to Jamie in way of greeting.

"What are you doing here during the day?" Jamie asked.

Sandy didn't quite know how to answer that, so he turned his gaze to the lake.

"It's Jack, isn't it?" Jamie asked, also turning to look at the lake. Sandy had to admit, the kid was smart. "Is he okay?"

Sandy gave a silent sigh, and shrugged his shoulders, not meeting the boy's eyes.

"But you know where he is, right? He's not missing, is he?"

Sandy shook his head, the image of Jack tucked in a bed forming above his head.

"He's sick?" Jamie asked.

Sandy nodded, he didn't know how else to explain Jack's condition, and didn't want this child to learn of the horrible things legends could do to each other.

"But he'll get better, right?"

Sandy hesitated. He couldn't promise the boy that, no matter how much he wanted to.

"He will," Jamie said and the conviction in his voice was enough to startle Sandy. "I know he will. Jack's one of the strongest people I know. He'll get better, just you wait."

With that, Jamie got up and walked away, leaving Sandy sitting stunned beside the melted lake.

Then, Sandy smiled. The first real smile since Jack had been attacked. Somehow, he knew Jack would be okay now. He couldn't explain it, but he _knew _Jack would be okay.

Because the children believed it, and belief was a powerful magic.

~~RiseOfTheGuardians~~

North wiped at his brow and studied the piece of ice held carefully in his hands. It was done.

He glanced at the clock and realized he had been working at this for close to six hours. The others would be waiting.

Gathering up the broken staff and holding the delicate ice, North emerged from his workroom, exhausted, but triumphant.

This was possibly his best work with the ice, and North was quite proud of it.

Phil followed North up to Jack's room, where the others were waiting.

"About bloody time," Bunny said as North walked in. "You said four hours, it's been six."

"Five and half," North said, waving the broken staff in dismissal of Bunny's complaints. "And you can't rush magic."

"But you did it?" Tooth asked. Sandy floated forwards, peering at the delicately carved ice cradled in North's hand.

"I did," North said. "Now, we just have to see if works."

"It'll work," Bunny said. Sandy nodded in agreement.

"Alright," North said. Holding the ice in one hand, he carefully inserted one half of the staff into its respective end before inserting the other.

He cupped the ice in both hands now and closed his eyes, calling upon the magic he had woven into the ice.

The ice began to glow, dim at first, but soon it flared a brilliant white so bright the Guardians had to shield their eyes.

Each felt their hearts leap in their chests. This would work. It _was_ working.

Jack was going to be okay!

Then there was a sound like shattering glass, and pieces of ice flew in all directions as the glow died out.

~~RiseOfTheGuardians~~

So, that's all for now (runs and hides). I was going to make it longer, but I just loved where this left off...I promise I will update...soon...ish... ;) maybe... hopefully...


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: **Okay, so this chapter is extremely short, but I felt bad leaving you all hanging, so I had to update! Although, I'm not very happy with this chapter...I promise Jack will be waking up soon! After all, he's got to, right?

P.S. I am prepping to take the NCLEX RN which is a massive scary super hard test, so we'll see how my updates come for now. Sorry, but this test is consuming my life and will until I take it...AHHHHHHHH, I am so NERVOUS for it!

Anyways, sorry for that little outburst, just needed to get it off my chest. And without further ado, here's the story (before the A/N gets longer than the actual chapter)

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Rise of the Guardians...

~~RiseOfTheGuardians~~

North gasped, stumbling backwards and reeling in shock as the others cried out in dismay. The staff clattered to the floor and all eyes turned towards it.

It lay amongst the glinting fragments of melting ice.

And it was in one piece.

"You did it," Tooth finally managed to gasp out.

Sandy clapped his hands, turning to face Jack expectantly. He was ready for the winter spirit to wake up now.

North brushed the remaining shards of ice from his beard, hands shaking. He had felt the magic work, for a while. But then something happened that seemed to reject his magic. He glanced up at Tooth as she made her statement, then down at the staff. It was in one piece but…

"Sort of, at least," Bunny said, leaning in to look at the staff. The two halves were held together by ice that seemed to grow between them, but the wood was still in two pieces.

"Will it work like that?" Tooth asked.

"No idea," North said. Nobody wanted to touch the staff, because nobody wanted to prove that it really hadn't worked, that this was going to turn out just like the glue.

Sandy waved at them to get their attention, and all eyes fell on him as a series of pictures formed above his head. The staff, the moon, a moonbeam, and Jack.

"It could work," North said, nodding. He gently crouched down and scooped the staff into his hands, careful not to jostle it in case it broke apart.

Together, all the Guardians followed North down to the globe room as Phil took up position in Jack's room. The teen hadn't even stirred while everything was going on, and this was perhaps the biggest clue to them all that the staff was not fixed.

North gently placed the staff in the circle of Guardians, where MiM normally called the crystal up from the floor. It was the place the moonbeams were strongest.

"Manny, we need your help," North said, looking up at the nearly full moon that had risen not too long ago. "Staff is together, but not quite fixed. You made staff first, perhaps you could fix it."

The Man in the Moon looked down on his Guardians, and sighed. It was not easy for him to watch them go through this, but he had no real way of explaining to them. _He_ had not made the staff. He hadn't even provided it for Jack Frost. No, Jack had simply stumbled upon it after waking, and picking it up had infused it with the over abundance of power MiM had placed in the boy.

Jack was the one that had made the staff, and Jack was the only one who could fix it. But Manny couldn't explain this, he didn't know how to, had never been good at explaining the mistakes he made or his short comings with his power.

So, instead, Manny sent some powerful moonbeams to engulf the staff. He felt bad, knew this would not be easy on the others, but he also knew it needed to be done.

The light of the moonbeams brought warmth with it, surrounding the delicate ice that held the two halves together.

And breaking it.

Gasps rang out as the light from the moonbeams faded, the beams returning to the moon, their work done.

"What is the meaning of this?" Tooth asked, dismayed as she looked at the broken staff once more.

"I thought, why did," Bunny stuttered as North and Sandy stared at the two pieces, too shocked to make a sound. or in Sandy's case, a picture.

Manny sent comforting waves towards his Guardians, but it was up to them to accept them.

"Our magic can't fix it," North finally said. "Nothing can fix it, and without his staff, Jack has no powers."

The others bowed their heads, forming a circle around the broken staff.

Tooth let silent tears fall from her eyes, which sparkled like crystals in the moonlight.

Sandy watched a sand dolphin swim around him, Jack's favorite animal, and frowned, his heart constricting as it faded away.

North felt as though all the wonder and warmth had left the world. If magic could not fix what needed fixed the most, what hope was there left in the world? What good was there to be seen? What use were they if they could not help the newest member of their family?

And Bunny stared at the staff in disbelief. He had failed him. He had failed his one time enemy, now best friend turned brother. Bunny racked his mind. There had to be something, anything, they could do. They couldn't just let Jack fade away.

And together, the four sat around the Guardian circle, and mourned and thought and planned.

~~RiseOfTheGuardians~~

THE END

After all, if you've read Broken, you know how the story ends ;)

I'm just kidding! I'll update soon...I hope!


	8. Chapter 8

**Not really an update, more like fixing something that was missing. Thanks again SkyHighFan for pointing it out to me!**

**A/N: **Gah! I'm sorry this has taken so long for me to upload! That is totally rude of me and I am so sorry! But it's here now, so that's okay, right?

Anyways, thank you all for reviewing and favoriting and following this story, that means so much to me. And thank you all who have wished me good luck on my upcoming boards! One more week. One more week of cramming and then we will know if it all paid off!

Well, without further ado, I give you the next installment in Healing. It didn't turn out like I expected or wanted, but I am rather fond of it regardless. Perhaps because it doesn't answer all questions, doesn't delve too deeply into the characters and leaves the mind to fill in the gaps. Regardless of why I like it, I do, so this is what you get. Enjoy! :)

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Rise of the Guardians

~~RiseOfTheGuardians~~

April was fuming. It had taken her the better part of two days to track down the others and get them to meet with her. Two days of wasted time, in her books, and she was going to find out why.

She stormed into the room where the others had agreed to meet and glanced around. All faces turned away from her, a sure sign that they felt guilty for abandoning her to the wrath of the Guardians.

"Well? What do you have to say for yourselves?" April demanded, glaring at the others.

Silence reigned as the others refused to make eye contact with anyone. It was April's sister, May, who spoke up first.

"April, what we did was wrong."

"Wrong, May? Need I remind you of everything that pest has done to us? Of the trouble he's caused? And how it isn't fair that _he_ became a Guardian when we are much better candidates?"

"April, we were wrong," May repeated. "You view Jack Frost as a problem, but he merely does what he is meant to do, just as you do, just as I do. Just as we all do. And, if I'm not mistaken, I remember those times you've talked with me about the games you played with the boy. Do you truly believe he deserved what we did, or do you just want to?"

"He did deserve it," April said, grey eyes flickering with lightning. But then she paused. She did remember those times she brought the rain around and Jack Frost was still there. Those times he engaged her in a game of tag, made her laugh, made her remember what fun was, even when she didn't want to. "One of us should have been made a Guardian, not that irresponsible child."

"But, he's not irresponsible," Summer spoke up, thinking again of that horrible fire and how Jack had saved that village. "He may play and prank, but that's because he _is_ a child. But he's _not _irresponsible. In fact, I've seen him take responsibility solving problems no one else wants to get involved with."

"He's got more responsibilities resting on his shoulders than most spirits and legends," Walter Turkey said. "And we never should have taken our jealousy out on him. It's not like he bribed MiM into picking him as the next Guardian." It was hard for Walter to admit, but the decision hadn't been Jack's, and therefore it wasn't his fault that he had been chosen over the others.

"And, he's been a Guardian of the children for longer than the few months that's it's been official," Groundhog put in, thinking again of the Bloody Bones incidence.

"Aye, tha's true," Leprechaun agreed.

April bit her lip, looking around at the nodding heads of the others. In her heart, she could feel that what they were saying was true, but she didn't want to admit it. Couldn't admit it. Because what she had done, well, how could she come back from that?

"Oh, please, what could Frost have possibly done that would make you say that?" April finally asked as the silence drew on.

And stories assaulted her ears. Stories that made her blink and stagger back and realize just _how_ wrong she had been. Her head reeled as she thought of what she had done.

And it was all her fault. How could she ever face the Guardians again, with how wrong she had been?

"We've got to apologize," May said, pulling April from her thoughts. "And see if there's anything we can do."

"I agree," Groundhog said. He wanted, no, _needed,_ to know how the winter spirit was. Needed to know if he would ever again have a snowball fight to determine how long winter would last. Needed to know if he would ever see his friend again, if he could ever be called friend again.

All eyes turned to April. She was the ringleader, the one who had begun this whole event. The others wanted to know if she would go with them to try and fix it, or if she would deny their wrongdoing once again. None of them knew how they would react if April still refused to see sense.

"They're at Santoff Claussen," April finally said, breaking the tense silence. "Let's go."

The others nodded, relief flooding through them that April would be joining them. They would hate to distance themselves from the woman, even with her volatile moods and quick temper she was still their friend.

Each made their own way to the far outreaches of the North Pole, but each waited until everyone had shown up before approaching the huge doors that opened into the magical workshop of Santoff Claussen.

The knock was loud, echoing through the still air of the North Pole. It was eerie, normally winds howled through the snowy hills and ice pelted down from the sky. But the sky was calm, and no one knew if this was a good sign, or a bad one.

A yeti opened the door, took one look at the group stationed there, and slammed the door closed.

May shared a nervous look with her sister, unsure of what to do. Pushing down her apprehension, April stepped forward and knocked once more. She was nervous about approaching the Guardians, after all, Sandman had made it abundantly clear that she was never to come near Jack Frost again.

Once again a yeti answered their knock. It grumbling at them in yetish, scowled, and the door slammed in their faces once more.

"What now?" May asked.

"We keep trying," April said, knocking for a third time. She couldn't explain it, but with each rejection she found the need to get in there, to fix what she had broken, more pressing than ever before.

They waited a long time. Long enough for the belief that they would not gain access to sink in. Slowly, they began to turn away, giving up hope, when the door swung open for a third time.

This time it was not a yeti who answered. This time, it was Nicholas St. North, and he did _not_ look happy.

"What is it you want?" North demanded upon seeing the group who had caused so much harm standing on his doorstep.

"We came to talk," April said, her voice shaking slightly at the look of pure anger of the normally jolly man's face.

"Talk? Haven't you done enough damage already, get out," this came from E. Aster Bunnymund, who appeared next to North to glare at the others.

"Please," Groundhog said, looking down at his feet. "We came to apologize." It was hard for Groundhog to admit this in the face of his biggest rival, but it needed to be done.

"Apologize?" North bellowed, making them all jump. "You think you can come here after all you have done and just apologize and hope it gets better?"

"North?" Queen Toothiana called hesitantly, fluttering down the hall towards them. "What's going o- oh." Her face hardened at the sight of the others, huddled in the cold weather outside of Santoff Claussen. "What are you doing here?" the queen of the tooth fairies asked, tone frigid.

Summer noticed the tear tracks that streaked the feathered queen's face and her heart plummeted.

"Please," Summer said. "We came to apologize, and to see how Jack Frost is doing. Will you please let us see him?"

"Let you see him?" Bunny asked. "After what you did? I think not."

"All we want to do is apologize," Walter said. "And try to make things right with him."

"Come near him again and I promise you there will be no place on this earth that you can hide from us," Tooth said, voice dangerously low, eyes glinting.

"Is he alright?" Leprechaun asked. He needed to know, couldn't bear the thought that they had done the unthinkable. "Please, can you tell us that."

"Leave. Now," North said, voice shaking. "Never come here again or I have yetis tie you up and throw you to ocean."

"Okay," April said, cutting off the continued pleas of the others. "Okay. We'll leave. Just, know this. We _are _sorry. We let our emotions and feelings blind us to the good that Jack Frost is, we forgot who we are and what we stand for, but most importantly, we betrayed the trust of a friend. Whether he forgives us or not, trusts us or not, we will never cause him harm again. We were wrong. Extremely wrong. And though we can't undo what we did, we can ask for forgiveness. Ask for a chance to make it up to him."

April fumbled for more words, but before she could continue, the door slammed in her face. She blinked back tears, looking to her sister, the one who was always there for her.

May had her own tears coursing down her cheeks and that opened April's floodgates. Rain began to fall from the sky as April cried, finally, completely, admitting that she made the biggest mistake in her life.

The group dispersed, heading to where they were needed as they fought with the knowledge of what they had done. And the only thing that remained clear in their minds was this:

Jack Frost was _not _okay.

It was evident in the actions of the Guardians. In the tear tracks down Tooth's face and the shake to North's voice. In the broken look in Bunny's eyes and the complete absence of Sandman and the golden streams that traveled the world.

Jack Frost was not okay. And it was all their fault.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: **Okay, so another short filler, sorry, I seem to have hit a writing road block after reading endless information for the NCLEX, but here it is. And sorry it's not very long, I'm feeling rather brain dead right and have to be up early tomorrow so I'm going to bed now.

Hope you enjoy! Thanks for all the reviews, favorites, and follows, you are all awesome!

P.S. SkyHighFan informed me that I was missing Walter Turkey from this story, something that I have corrected. He has been added into chapters 1 and 8, so if you are interested in reading those chapters with him, feel free to do so. Thanks SkyHighFan.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Rise of the Guardians.

~~RiseOfTheGuardians~~

North took great pleasure in slamming the door on the faces of those who had caused Jack harm, but he also was regretful, because in all honesty, he still wanted to give them all a piece of his mind. Give them all a taste of what they had done to Jack.

"I still don't understand why we don't knock their butts from here to the moon," Bunny said, still glaring at the door.

"Bunny!" Tooth exclaimed, although she too wanted to inflict a little damage.

"It is not what we do," North said regretfully, hand twitching to open the door and do just that.

Bunny opened his mouth, but was cut short as Sandy came flying into the picture, looking frantic.

Pictures formed above his head, flashing faster than the eye could make out.

"Whoa, Sandy, calm down, calm down," North said, although he felt his own heart rate increase in anxiety. "What is it?"

Sandy just stomped his foot and pointed towards Jack's room. The action caused all of the Guardians to race up the stairs into the wintery room.

Jack was lying in the bed, just as he had been before, but now he was tossing, face scrunched up, tears leaking from his eyes.

"Blimey," Bunny said, racing over and pinning Jack down before he fell out of the bed.

"Can't you do something?" Tooth asked, looking at Sandy.

Sandy shook his head, the figure of a nightmare with a line through it appearing above it.

"Is not nightmare?" North asked, hurrying to assist Bunny in holding Jack's flailing limbs down.

"Then what is it?" Bunny asked, panting slightly in the effort to hold the winter spirit down. Despite his small size, Jack was strong.

Sandy simply shrugged.

"Come on Jack," Tooth said, fluttering near his head and resting a cool hand on his cheek. "Wake up, it's okay, we're all here."

Jack relaxed slightly as Tooth continued to murmur words of comfort, letting him know he was not alone. North and Bunny relaxed their grips on the boy and stepped back slowly.

"Don't stop," Bunny said as Tooth quieted for a moment and Jack tensed once more. Quickly, Tooth began the soothing litany once more.

North sighed, running a hand over his face.

"Hey, mate," Bunny said, patting his arm. "This is a good thing. Means he's closer to waking up."

Sandy nodded in confirmation as he studied Jack. He wasn't sure what had caused that outburst from the winter spirit, but he had been useless in helping the boy. It was strange for him, because he felt like with Jack asleep, he should be the one doing the most. And yet, Jack wasn't dreaming or having nightmares. Something else was going on in his mind that Sandy had no control over.

Tooth had settled on the edge of the bed by Jack's head and transitioned from mindless ramblings into the lullabies her parents used to sing to her, all those years ago. She brushed Jack's hair back off his forehead with gentle fingers as she softly sang to him.

North watched on for a minute before clearing his throat. Tooth continued to hum, but turned to face the man.

"I think now more than ever it is important for us not to leave him alone," North declared.

Sandy and Tooth nodded.

"I coulda told you that, mate," Bunny said.

"I also think we should all stay here until he wakes up," North continued. Bunny opened his mouth to protest. "Not in this room," North cut him off. "We all get frostbite if we stay here too long. But we should all be nearby, in case something else happens or he wakes up."

"I guess you're right there," Bunny agreed.

Sandy nodded. It would be harder to concentrate on getting his dreams out to the world, but Jack was more important right now.

Tooth turned back to face Jack and continued to sing quietly. Jenalie and the others could handle things while she was here. She just hoped they didn't storm Santoff Claussen when she didn't show up to give them an update.

"Right then," North said. "Tooth, you stay with him for now, since you seem to be the one capable of calming him."

"Right," Tooth said, looking down at the sleeping teenager with a fond smile. Jack stirred in the momentary silence and she quickly began singing once more.

"It's gonna be a long night," Bunny said, watching Tooth for a moment before following North and Sandy out the door.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: **Finally, here's the next part! Sorry for the long wait, I had to take that nasty NCLEX test, which is just as horrible as it sounds and about ten hundred times worse when you are actually taking it. I feel like there is no way no how to actually prepare for that exam and that everything I had done, all the studying and worrying and skipping work and what not, was not helpful in the least. But oh well, after 3 hours of nauseating testing, it's done! Now I just have to wait who knows how long to get the results. Ugh, that thought alone makes me want to hurl!

So yeah, sorry it took so long to update, but hey! Bright side: it's a long chappie! :) Hope you enjoy it! Thanks for all the reviews, favorites, and follows, it is much appreciated!

Oh, and for those of you who asked, last chapter when Jack wasn't dreaming, he was hearing all the bad things the other legends and spirits said about him, reliving it, to be precise. If you've read Broken, it's that little part with all the italicized insults. For those of you who haven't read Broken, well, that's what was going on, Jack was hearing all the insults people have thrown his way. :) and you should read Broken...

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Rise of the Guardians...

~~RiseOfTheGuardians~~

Bunny rubbed a paw down his face and stared at the winter spirit who lay in the bed in front of him.

"Come on, kid," Bunny muttered as he crossed his arms. "Ya gotta wake up already."

But the winter spirit remained still in the bed, a small frown marring his features and with no indication that he even knew Bunny was there. It was frustrating, to say the least.

"How is he?" a quiet voice asked as North entered the room.

"Bout the same," Bunny sighed. "Least he's not screaming anymore. Think Tooth took care of that. But, well, he's not doing much of anything any more now."

North nodded. "Go take break, get warmed up. I will watch him for a while."

"Right," Bunny said, standing up. He cast one last look at the boy before heading out of the room.

"Ah, Jack," North sighed, falling into the chair that Bunny had just vacated. "You cannot make things easy on us, can you?"

North watched the boy for any reactions, but none were forth coming.

North sighed again in disappointment. "You are family now, I hope you know that. You have something in this life to come back to."

North blinked back tears, watching hopefully. But Jack remained motionless.

"Well, take your time, we will wait," North said, resigning himself to this fact. "But Jack, please come back to us." Because, I can't imagine life without you now. But North could not make himself voice this part out loud.

~~RiseOfTheGuardians~~

Bunny made his way down to the kitchens, hoping to find something warm to drink, and was surrounded by a worried Tooth, Sandy, and Phil as he entered the great room.

"How is he?"

"Valrug flishgu?"

A question mark floated over Sandy's head, his face anxious.

"Whoa," Bunny said, stepping back. "He's, well, the same as when you left Tooth. He's been calm, sort of, but no signs of waking up."

Sandy's shoulders drooped and Tooth's wings slowed, landing her on the ground.

Bunny sighed. "Look, it's not a bad thing, it's just, nothings changed yet is all. I'd be surprised if he isn't up and annoying us all half to death by tomorrow morning."

"You think so?" Tooth asked, her eyes lighting up.

"Yeah," Bunny said, although he didn't believe what he was saying.

~~RiseOfTheGuardians~~

North had finally done it, he had crafted the first ice train that flew and now he was watching it fly around his workshop. He laughed and clapped his hands as it did a loop in the air, flying circles around his head. North shifted in his chair to watch the progress, to watch how it flew.

It was so elegant, so well made and sure to bring wonder to the children of the world. North smiled. He could just imagine how excited the children would be to see this little bit of magic.

The train landed once more on the icy track, bumped up and down a few times, then settled.

North grinned. The train was perfect.

Now, he just had to make a little adjustment to the track and-

A crashing sound echoed in his workshop, breaking him from his concentration and North attempted to spin around.

And promptly fell off his chair onto the frost covered flooring of Jack Frost's room.

"Wha?" North asked, sitting up and looking around as the realization that he had fallen asleep set in. The events of the past few days overwhelmed him momentarily and his eyes fell on the bed.

The _empty_ bed.

North swung around, his heart pounding in his chest as his eyes fell upon the sight of Jack, who was making painstakingly slow progress towards the door.

"Jack, you are awake!" North exclaimed, feeling his heart soar in relief and happiness at seeing the teen up. "Where are you going?"

"I need my staff," Jack answered. North noticed how much Jack was shaking and leapt into action as the boy took another step, stumbled, and nearly collapsed.

Supporting the boy gently but firmly, North carried him back to the bed, once again marveling at how light he was.

Jack was protesting, squirming under North's hands as he settled the boy down, but he was much too weak to put up much of a fight.

"You don't understand," Jack pleaded, his blue eyes meeting North's and North felt his heart break at the fear, pain, and sadness he saw in them. "I need my staff, please." The last word was said so quietly, North wasn't sure he heard it.

He hesitated. How did he tell Jack that his staff was broken, irreparable? North looked down at Jack, who was sitting anxiously in the bed.

"You did get my staff, didn't you?" Jack asked.

"Jack," North said, figuring he might as well bite the bullet quick. "We can get you a new staff."

"No," Jack said, and North was surprised by how firm his voice sounded. "I need _my_ staff."

North was taken aback by how sure Jack sounded of that fact and was momentarily distracted as Jack attempted to once more get out of bed, showing much more strength than he had had a moment before.

"Whoa," North placed a heavy hand on Jack's shoulder, preventing the boy from getting up once more. He didn't want Jack to hurt himself further, or tire himself out.

~~RiseOfTheGuardians~~

"Did you hear that?" Bunny asked, ears twitching.

"Hear what?" Tooth asked as Sandy shrugged his shoulders.

"Voices," Bunny said. And he did. He could hear voices. Two voices to be precise. North's and, yes, that was Jack's. Without another word Bunny was up and racing to Jack's room, the noises coming from the previously quiet room growing louder the closer he got.

He could hear Tooth's startled yelp behind him, but he didn't stop to explain. If he was hearing Jack's voice, that meant, that meant…

Bunny threw open the door and peered inside.

"What's all the ruckus up here?" he asked before he caught sight of North standing by Jack's bed and Jack, Jack was sitting up, looking for all the world like he was trying to get out of bed and the only thing stopping him was North's hand on his shoulder.

"Jack, mate, you're awake!" Bunny cried out in relief as the information sunk in, causing Bunny to feel weak in the knees.

"Bunny!" Jack cried out and Bunny could hear the desperation in his voice. But over what? What was going on? "I need my staff, please, get it for me," Jack practically begged, and Bunny felt his stomach drop.

So that was it. Bunny glanced at North, at the sorrow he could see there, before looking back at Jack once more. "Well, you see mate…" but Bunny couldn't bring himself to say more.

"No no no," Jack muttered, looking almost frantic and it tore both North and Bunny up to see it. Jack was never frantic, he was always relaxed and with a smile.

"What's going on?" Tooth fluttered into the room, taking in the scene in an eye blink. "Jack, you're awake!"

She fluttered over to the boy and flung her arms around him, pulling him into a bone-crushing hug. "We were so worried about you," Tooth practically sobbed in relief. "You've been asleep for so long, we thought you might not wake up."

Bunny smiled. Leave it to Tooth to put all their worries and fears into a few simple sentences.

"Might not wake up?" Jack sounded honestly perplexed. "Why wouldn't I wake up?"

Tooth shook her head, there were so many reasons why, how could she answer.

But Jack didn't wait for an answer. "How long have I been out?" he asked.

"Three days, mate," Bunny said, suppressing a shiver at that thought.

Sandy appeared in to doorway just then and allowed a relieved smile to cross his face as he took in the scene. Jack was awake at last!

"Three days," Jack squeaked out as Tooth finally let up on her strangle hug to get a good look at him.

"Aye," North said. He never wanted to think about those three days again. "You had us mighty worried."

"But why?" Jack asked.

_Why?_ Bunny thought. Why wouldn't we be worried? But before he could voice his thoughts aloud, Tooth spoke up.

"Oh Jack," she said, voice soothing as she brushed her hand against his cold cheek. "It's your staff."

"Yes, where is it?" Jack asked as the others all glanced at each other, unsure of where to go from there.

Sandy looked at Jack once more. He had known the boy the longest and consequently knew how attached Jack was to his staff. The boy was never without it. Sandy knew what they had to do: they had to give Jack his staff back, even if it was in two pieces.

He gave a slight nod to the others and left the room.

The others turned their gazes back to Jack, who was glancing at each of them anxiously, pain writ plainly on his features.

Sandy retrieved the pieces of the staff from where they had left them in the globe room and quickly made his way back to Jack. Maybe there was something else they could do, get Manny to make a brand new one, or find another conduit of power, Sandy thought as he returned to the room.

He held up the two pieces for Jack to see, a feeling of deepest regret and sorrow blooming up in his chest as he reunited the boy with his broken staff.

"It's broken, mate," Bunny said. He didn't know why he was stating the obvious but guessed it was because he couldn't stand the silence or the blank look on Jack's face. He needed to fix this, _now. _For his brother. "We couldn't fix it. We tried, but we couldn't."

And admitting that was _hard._ Harder than Bunny cared to admit.

"We are sorry Jack," North added, nervous at the boy's lack of response as he stared at the pieces of his staff. They were failures, all of them. They had not only _not_ been there to protect Jack, but they hadn't even been able to stop his staff from being broken, and here was the proof. He didn't know if Jack could forgive them their failure.

Sandy tried to catch Jack's attention, to tell him that they had tried, but it hadn't worked. To tell him that they could get Manny to make a new one, or find something else to work as a conduit of power. To tell him that no matter what, Jack was still family to them, and it didn't matter if he didn't have his staff.

Sandy was trying to reassure the boy that they wouldn't abandon him even if he didn't have his powers. He knew how important their new found family bonds were to Jack, but he also knew that Jack had a hard time with trust and had some interactions that had ended badly for him, and Sandy wanted to reassure him that that would not happen in this case. That Jack would always be their family.

It was the only thing Sandy could think as he took in the blank mask that had taken over Jack's face at the sight of his broken staff. The only thing Sandy could think to do was reassure the boy.

But Jack wasn't even paying attention. Instead, he reached out and took the two halves of the broken staff from Sandy, face still emotionless.

"Oh Jack," Tooth said, gently touching Jack's knee in an attempt to comfort the boy. It was scaring her that he had gotten so quiet, so closed off, at the sight of his staff, and she wanted to let him know that everything would be okay. Wanted to reassure him, just as much as she needed to reassure herself.

"We'll figure something out," Tooth continued, unknowingly speaking part of what Sandy had been trying to say. "Find you a new one. Or Manny can make you a new one."

She wasn't sure if Manny could, or _would,_ given the fact that he hadn't helped them earlier, but she wanted to believe he would.

"Make me a new one?" Jack asked, snapping out of his emotionless daze and looking rather confused, which confused everyone else.

"Or could figure something else out," North quickly put in, worried that Jack would reject the idea of a new staff.

"Why?" Jack asked.

Bunny shared a quick glance at North as Sandy met Tooth's anxious gaze. Did Jack not understand what had happened here?

"Because it's broken mate," Bunny finally said, bluntly.

"So?" Jack asked.

Bunny was getting a bad feeling about this. Had Jack suffered brain damage from the beating he received? "So, you can't use it anymore," Bunny pointed out.

His diagnosis of brain damage seemed more accurate as Jack started laughing.

Sandy and North looked worried and Tooth looked down right alarmed.

"Jack, are you okay?" Tooth asked frantically. She wished she knew what he was thinking, what he was feeling.

"You really think this is the first time I've broken my staff?" Jack finally asked as his chuckles subsided.

Tooth bit her lip as North and Sandy shared a quick glance.

"Well, uh," Bunny stumbled, because yeah, they really did.

"Because it's not," Jack said.

Everyone's eyes widened at that statement, that and the casual way Jack was saying it.

"Is not?" North choked out.

Jack shook his head and looked down at his staff.

Tooth felt her breath catch in her throat as he brought the two pieces together. Sandy and Bunny moved closer and North leaned in. None of them were sure what was going on, but they all knew they didn't want to miss it.

They watched as Jack closed his eyes, a look of concentration marring his pale features.

But then the look morphed into doubt, shame, fear, guilt. Jack's hands began shaking and his breathing quickened and became labored.

"Jack!" North called frantically. He didn't want to touch the boy in case he made things worse, but he didn't think whatever Jack was doing was good for him.

"Wha?" Jack's eyes snapped open and met North's gaze, a haunted look in them.

"Are you alright, mate?" Bunny asked. That little episode had frightened him, it reminded him too much of those few short hours not too long ago when Jack was thrashing and inconsolable to all except Tooth's gentle voice. "You don't look too good."

And that was true. Jack, who had already been paler than usual (which is saying something) looked grey, with frozen beads of sweat on his forehead and a slight flush to his cheeks.

"Why don't you lay down, you can fix this later," Tooth said, gently pushing the staff down in an attempt to get Jack to settle. After all, he had only just woken up; she didn't want anything to happen to him now. Not while she had anything to say about it.

Sandy looked on, worried. He knew Jack, knew he wouldn't give up until he passed out or finished what he started. But he sincerely hoped the boy would listen to Tooth. Jack _looked_ about ready to pass out.

But something didn't make sense to Sandy. Whatever had happened just barely was the same thing that had happened not too long ago when Jack had been unconscious. Sandy didn't know what it was, but he knew it wasn't good. And he wanted to know what it was. He formed a question mark above his head, hoping Jack would understand, but knew that if he didn't, Sandy could always ask him later. After all, whatever had just happened now, and earlier, was something that was affecting Jack, and Sandy wanted to help him to overcome that. That's what brothers were for, Sandy determined.

"Nah, I'm okay," Jack said. He met Sandy's eyes and Sandy knew he wouldn't get his answers just yet. "I need to do this, it'll help."

Tooth nodded and backed away just slightly as Jack closed his eyes once more, gripping the staff tightly between his hands. A few seconds passed before Jack opened his eyes once more, only this time, a brilliant white light erupted from the break in the staff and beautiful frost patterns raced up and down the wood.

Tooth, Sandy, Bunny, and North all watched, stunned, as the wood knitted itself together once more. What they had all spent hours and days agonizing over, debating about, and despairing over, Jack had fixed in a matter of seconds.

_No wonder Manny wouldn't fix it,_ North thought, recognizing the staff now for what it truly was, an extension of Jack. _He didn't make staff, Jack did. _

"There," Jack said, a smile on his face as the glow faded, leaving the group blinking spots from their eyes and staring at the now whole staff.

"Oh, Jack," Tooth said in amazement. That was impressive magic.

"Was amazing," North agreed as Sandy nodded and clapped his hands.

Sandy hadn't realized just how the staff was connected to Jack, but now that he thought about it, he should have. Regardless, that was impressive what Jack had just done.

"Not bad, mate," Bunny said, which was as much as he could bring himself to say.

"Yeah," Jack said, but his voice was soft. He was swaying slightly where he sat and though he looked at Bunny, Bunny didn't think Jack was seeing him.

"Whoa!" Bunny yelped, lunging forward and catching Jack as he pitched face first towards the floor.

"We've got ya, mate," Bunny said as Tooth helped him settle Jack back onto the bed where he didn't risk injuring himself further.

"What happened?" Tooth asked, frightened. Fixing his staff was a good thing, right? So why did Jack just pass out?

Images formed above Sandy's head, showing an energy level reading, the staff being fixed, then the energy going to zero. Next, the image of Jack with z's over his head formed.

North nodded, casting a worried look at the boy once more. "Then we shall let him sleep," he declared.

"Rest now, mate," Bunny said, though he wasn't sure if Jack was still awake or not. "We won't let nothing happen to you." And Bunny meant it. He would protect Jack with everything that he was. Because that was what a big brother did.

"We're here Jack," Tooth reassured the boy, she didn't want him to worry that he would be left abandoned.

Sandy threw a fist full of golden dreamsand into Jack's face, filling them with the best dreams the dream-maker could imagine. After all, he wanted Jack's sleep to be restful, and that was something he _could_ help with.

"Now," North said, placing his hands on his hips. "What in world did Jack mean, not first time he broke his staff?"

~~RiseOfTheGuardians~~

And that's it for now :) I'm debating whether I want to continue this story now or not, so we shall see how I feel I suppose! Thanks for reading! Bye now!


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: **Gah! I don't know what I think of this chapter, it kinda didn't go the way I expected but I'm too lazy to change it right now. Anyways, here the update for ya, as promised. I wasn't going to, actually, until my mailbox was flooded with reviews, then I figured, hey, this story is being read, so I suppose I can update cause I really am enjoying writing it.

The characters do seem off to me in this chapter though...hmmmm...don't know what happened there...

Anyways, my little bit of good news, I PASSED! YAY! I am officially an RN and I never have to take that test again!

And now, onto the story...

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Rise of the Guardians, I just write this for fun

~~RiseOfTheGuardians~~

"Yes, yes," Tooth said as her eyes danced around. "Alright, you can come visit Jack. Yes, he's doing better, I promise."

Jennalie and Hennalie were hovering beside Tooth as she handed out assignments to her fairies. Tooth had come back to check on her fairies' progress shortly after Jack had fallen asleep, and since she had returned, she had been hounded by her fairies for news on Jack.

"Let's just get through this night, then we'll go," Tooth said as she directed Benslie to an 8 year old in London.

With nods, Jennalie and Hennalie agreed, before hurrying off to complete their own assignments.

Tooth sighed, watching them go before turning her eyes in the direction of the North Pole. She hoped that Jack was awake when she brought her fairies to see them.

~~RiseOfTheGuardians~~

Sandy traveled the earth, spreading his dreams with good cheer once again. Jack was home, at Santoff Claussen, with pleasant dreams dancing in his head as he slept, and Sandy couldn't be happier.

He had to admit he had never been more worried in his life than in those hours leading up to Jack waking up. Nor had he ever felt so helpless.

But now, Jack's staff was fixed and he was on the mend as well, which pleased Sandy to no end.

He flew over the small town of Burgess, pausing as he passed a young boy standing beside Jack's lake.

Sandy flew down closer the Jamie, curious as to why he was out so late, and was about to get the boy's attention when he heard Jamie speak.

"So, you see Jack, we miss you here. _I _miss you here. And we're worried. I mean, it's been _three_ days since the lake melted and well, we haven't heard from you. Sandy said you were sick, and well, I hope you feel better soon, cause I miss you. You're like a big brother to me and well, I don't wanna loose my big brother. So, come play soon, okay? Cause you've got to."

Jamie wiped his eyes on his sleeve as he stared at the lake. Sandy hovered there, watching the boy, and wondered if he should approach him.

But then Jamie's mother's voice called out, and Jamie turned and raced back home, never once noticing Sandy as he floated overhead.

_See, Jack,_ Sandy thought as he watched the boy go inside. _This is why you're needed._

~~RiseOfTheGuardians~~

"I still think we should be watching him," North said as he stirred his hot chocolate.

"Frostbite's fine," Bunny said, blowing on his own steaming mug. "You know what Sandy said, he's dreaming peacefully. We don't wanna wake him up."

"I wouldn't wake him up," North said.

"Mate, with snoring like yours, you probably would. Let the kid sleep. We'll check on him in the morning."

North sighed. "You are right. Still, I want to know what Jack meant when he said his staff had been broken before. When did this happen?"

"I think we all want to know that," Bunny said. He couldn't believe that it was possible Jack had suffered like that before, and they hadn't known about it. Just thinking of Jack going through that alone, it made him feel sick.

"Know what?" Tooth asked as she fluttered in, eight or nine fairies at her side.

"How Jack's staff broke before," North said as Sandy came gliding in on a golden sand eagle.

North raised an eyebrow at Sandy, after all, Sandy was the one who had known Jack the longest.

Sandy shrugged. He had had no idea Jack had ever broken his staff before.

But Jennalie did, and noticing the topic of the conversation she spoke up, fast and furious.

"Whoa, whoa, slow down Jennalie," Tooth said, motioning for the little fairy to calm down.

Jennalie took a deep breath and explained that she had been with Jack before when his staff was broken.

"You were with him when his staff broke before?" Tooth asked, causing the others to lean in closer to the little fairy. None of them could understand her, but they wanted to right then, if only to learn more.

Jennalie nodded.

"When was this?" North demanded.

Jennalie went into the story of Jack's encounter with Pitch, how he had turned his staff over to save Jennalie, and how Pitch had double-crossed him.

"You mean Pitch broke his staff before?" Bunny asked.

Jennalie nodded.

Tooth felt her anger flare up once more. She wanted to go knock out the rest of Pitch's teeth after learning he had been the one to break it before and cause Jack that pain. And she would empty her bank to do just that if it came to it next time she saw the boogeyman.

Bunny had to stop himself from growling, after all, Pooka's didn't growl. But he wanted to pound Pitch to a pulp, wait for him to get better, do it again, then toss him in the ocean for what he had done. But Pitch was beaten and hadn't been heard of since they had sent him back under the bed where he belonged. However, Bunny promised himself he'd do just that if Pitch ever returned.

And North was making a similar promise. A promise that, next time he saw Pitch, he would make him pay for what he had done to their youngest member. Make him pay through the nose, as the saying went.

Sandy shook in rage. How _dare_ Pitch have done that! He should have slammed the boogeyman into the ground a few more times when he had the chance. Promised he would next time he saw Pitch because the man deserved it, having so maliciously cut off Jack from his staff like that and tear the boy's hopes from him to crush them underfoot. Yes, Pitch better be ready next time he faced the Sandman, because Sandy was ready for him.

Tooth thought about the story as she fumed at Pitch, and tried to place when it could have happened. But she was drawing a blank. Jack had been with them and fine for basically the whole time.

"But, when would this have happened?" Tooth voiced when she couldn't come up with the answer herself. "We were with him for the whole time. Unless, did it happen when he lost you?" The question was directed at Jennalie.

Jennalie shook her head.

"But, then…" Realization dawned on three of the Guardians' faces as Sandy looked on in confusion. He had never gotten the complete story about what had happened between being struck down by Pitch and being brought back by the children. He had only gotten the basics.

"It was after the Easter fiasco," Bunny said.

"When we sent him away," North said, looking down.

"Oh, oh dear," Tooth gasped.

A question mark appeared above Sandy's head, but he got the sinking suspicion he didn't _want _to know what had happened.

None of the other Guardians would look at Sandy and he stomped his foot in frustration.

"It's just," Bunny said. "It wasn't our greatest moment with the kid."

Sandy pointed to his question mark again.

"We blamed him for ruining Easter," Tooth whispered, looking at the floor.

"And told him he wasn't wanted," North sighed. Never had he felt so guilty before.

Sandy's eyes widened in shock. Of all the things he expected, for the others to downright reject the boy, after he had just accepted being with them…Well, it was a wonder Jack didn't take Pitch up on his offer when he had the chance.

It was a wonder Jack came back to help them at all.

Sandy shook his head at the others, disappointment written clearly on his features. To turn against one of their own, Sandy wasn't sure he could forgive them. Wasn't sure how Jack _could _have forgiven them, because he obviously had.

"We were sorry," Bunny said. "After he left, we realized, well, we were wrong."

Sandy made a face that clearly stated: Well duh.

"But, by then, it was too late. We didn't know where he was. We looked, but our powers were weakening. We knew we had to get to the children who still believed in us, to keep them believing, before it was too late."

"And Jack did the same thing," North said.

Silence filled the room as the Guardians thought things through. Jennalie rolled her eyes at how complicated they were making things, before heading off to Jack's room, her eight sisters behind her. After all, they had come to see Jack, not regal the Guardians of the other time Jack had broken his staff.

"It's funny, really," Tooth said, breaking the stretching silence.

"What?" Bunny asked.

"Well, if I had just told Jennalie about Jack's broken staff, instead of hiding the truth, she could have told me that he could fix it. Would have saved us a lot of trouble."

"Truth is always better than lies," North said with a sigh. Sandy nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, you coulda saved my arms from almost fallin' off," Bunny said as he thought about all the trouble they had gone through to try and fix Jack's staff.

"And no wonder Man in Moon would not fix," North said.

"Yeah," Bunny agreed. "Don't think he could've fixed it if he wanted to."

Tooth sighed. "What a mess."

"Generally happens with kids," Bunny said.

"Well, at least we know the other time Jack broke his staff," North said. "And we know he wasn't alone for long after, or during. He had Baby Tooth, after all."

"That's true," Tooth said with a smile.

~~RiseOfTheGuardians~~

Well, the ending here really got away from me, but there you have it. :) Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, and followed this story! You make it fun to keep writing it!

Hopefully I will be able to update soon! I make so promises, but hopefully I will.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: **Hello all, so here's the next part of the story! Yay! Sorry it has taken so long, school is crazy and this past week I have been a complete scatter brain. Forgot my wallet one day at work, didn't take a quiz for a class, was late to a class one day and only showed up after a friend texted me to ask where I was (I completely forgot I even had class that day), and I mixed up my shifts at work, causing me to be three hours late to work the other day. It has just been an awful week where my brain is just deciding to shut down.

I guess I just need a vacation :)

Anyways, since I can't have a vacation, I will bring you this! Get my mind off of work and school and stuff like that, so, here it is!

Thank you all for your reviews, favorites, and follows. And thank you to those who have supported me and congratulated me on my test, it means a lot.

And to all of my readers, you are AMAZING! Never forget that!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Rise of the Guardians...

~~RiseOfTheGuardians~~

"Shhh, shhhhh! He is waking up," North said, fluttering his hands up and down.

Jennalie and the other 8 fairies that were checking up on Jack settled around Jack as North, Tooth, Bunny, and Sandy all leaned in.

Jack's eyes fluttered open, blinked once, before taking in the scene. "Okay, this is weird," Jack croaked.

"You are awake," North said.

"I noticed," Jack said, licking dry lips. "Why are you all staring at me?"

"We were worried," Tooth said.

Jack's brow furrowed in confusion. "Why?"

"You've been out for another three days mate," Bunny said.

"Huh," Jack said, wishing that everyone would back up at least a little, he was beginning to feel claustrophobic. "I've never been out that long."

"Yes, well," North said, nodding slightly before pausing. "What do you mean you've never been out that long?"

Jack's eyes widened in surprise as North shouted at him.

Sandy waved his hands, sensing Jack's discomfort, before he dragged the others back out of Jack's space. A relieved smile spread across Jack's lips as he met Sandy's eyes in a show of gratitude. Sandy nodded in return.

Four of the tooth fairies fluttered over with a glass of water. Jack took it from them gratefully and sipped it, letting the cool water wash down his throat as he concentrated on not freezing it.

The others watched in silence for a moment before Sandy gave them all a meaningful look. Bunny nodded and stepped forwards slightly.

"Listen, mate, we uh," Bunny began, although he wasn't sure how to continue.

"Jack we just," Tooth said, but she too, was at a loss for words.

Jack rubbed his head. He felt a million times better than he had the last time he had woken up, but still, he had just woken up and he was having a hard time processing everything. It didn't help that the others were acting so weird.

"Well, you see mate," Bunny stumbled forward again. "We just, uh, North?"

"Jack," North said, but couldn't seem to say anything after that. How did one apologize for what happened a year ago? And was it right to bring it up now, make Jack relive that? North glanced to Sandy, whose expression turned stern. Sandy pointed at Jack before folding his arms and tapping his foot.

North sighed. "Jack, we just, that is to say, well…"

"What's going on? Did someone break my staff again?"

"No! No, nothing like that," Tooth fluttered.

"Well then, what is it?" Jack asked.

North, Tooth, and Bunny all shared a look.

"Just say it."

"We wanted to say sorry," Bunny finally blurted out.

"For what?" Jack asked, confused. "It wasn't your fault I got on the wrong side of April and the others."

"No, no," North said. "Not for that, although we should have been there for you."

"You were," Jack said, sitting up and looking the others in the eyes one at a time. "You were all there for me, to help me. And you took care of me after. Just, thank you. I've never had anyone who would do that for me before."

The others looked down, feeling guilty. They _should _have been there for Jack before, _long_ before the incident with Pitch.

After the silence had stretched to near awkwardness, Jack spoke up once more. "Than I don't understand what you are apologizing for."

"For, uh, well," Tooth said. "Jennalie here filled us in. On what happened. The other time your staff broke."

"Oh," Jack said, looking down at Baby Tooth, who chirped softly and offered Jack a smile. Jack smiled back at her. "Yeah, well, you know, these things happen and well, it all worked out in the end."

"But it shouldn't have happened," Bunny said.

"We should have listened to you," North said.

"We shouldn't have turned you away," Tooth said.

"We are sorry, Jack," North said.

Jack, who was still looking at Baby Tooth, glanced down at his lap for a moment.

The others held their breaths. They wanted Jack's forgiveness, needed it, because otherwise, it would be too hard to live with themselves.

North watched Jack anxiously. The past few days had come to show him just how much Jack meant to him and the others, how much the boy made them a family, and he feared losing the trust and respect that was growing between the two of them.

Bunny couldn't bring himself to look at Jack, couldn't bare the thought that Jack would reject him, reject them all, like they had rejected him. And the thought that Jack, this crazy, fun loving winter spirit who had warmed his heart and become like a brother, might reject him, well, it made Bunny want to tunnel to the center of the Earth and never come out again.

Tooth fluttered anxiously side to side, wishing not for the first time, that she could read Jack's mind. She was nervous that bringing this up would remind him of how badly they had failed him as friends, as family, and she didn't want him to realize that. Because if he realized that, he would realize that they didn't deserve him, he would desert them, and Tooth didn't want that. Jack had made their lives full of wonder, hope, and fun. He had created memories with them that Tooth treasured above all the other memories she cared for.

Sandy watched Jack closely. He was still angry at the others for what they had done, still could not believe that they could shun one of their own, especially at a time they needed each other most. Sandy knew that he would not forgive the others what they had done. At least, not until Jack had forgiven them.

Jack twisted the blanket that rested across his lap between his fingers, watching as the frost created patterns on it as he tried to find the words he wanted to say.

At long last he looked up.

And smiled.

"There's nothing you need to apologize for," Jack said. "I've already forgiven you."

North's eyes widened in shock as he let the breath he'd been holding out. He had hoped for it, but hadn't expected it to be so simple, so easy.

Bunny had to stop himself from leaping on Jack and hugging him. He felt elated, lighter than he had in a long time, to hear those words.

Tooth _did_ throw herself at Jack, pulling him into a hug.

"Oh Jack," Tooth said. "I'm so glad to hear it."

"But how?" Bunny asked. "When?"

Tooth let go of Jack, settling on the bed next to him.

"Basically right after it happened. Before I had even run into Pitch," Jack said. "As to how, well…" Jack thought. How could he explain that for him, holding grudges was dangerous? How could he explain that for him, anyone who spoke to him, talked with him, interacted with him, was a potential friend, and to stay mad at a friend was just, well, it was stupid. "We're friends," Jack finally said with a shrug. "So we fought a little, had a disagreement. Went our separate ways for a bit. It all worked out in the end."

A huge grin lit up Sandy's face on hearing this and he shook his head in wonder. How was it that Jack, who was practically alone for three hundred years, knew more about friendship and family then they did? But, he did, and that knowledge made Sandy proud to be Jack's friend, his family.

"But, mate," Bunny said. "What we did, it led to getting your staff broken."

"It's not like you broke it though," Jack said.

"Still," Tooth said, her fists clenching. "I'll never forgive Pitch for doing that. Or April and the others."

"Me neither," North said.

"Same here," Bunny added as Sandy nodded his head. "And we'll make sure they never bother you again, mate."

Jack laughed, causing everyone to look at him in concern. Baby Tooth and the other fairies chirped in surprise, fluttering away from their perches on Jack momentarily before settling back down.

"What is so funny?" North asked.

"Aren't you mad at them for what they did?" Tooth asked.

"Sorry," Jack said when he stopped laughing. "It's just, if I stayed mad at everyone who's broken my staff, well, things would get a little awkward."

"What do you mean?" North asked.

"Pitch and April aren't the only ones who have broken my staff," Jack pointed out.

"WHAT?!"


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: **Sorry for the late update, not only have I suffered from tension migraines for the past 5 days, but my body decided not to have an immune system and for the past 3 I have been living off of Slurpees, which happen to be the only thing my stomach can agree to keep. This, in combination to the myriad of drugs I've been taking just to keep myself from gutting myself or decapitating myself to stop the misery, has made it extremely hard to write anything, let alone turn on the computer, or even think about turning it on...

But now, my misery has, mostly, passed, and so I bring you the latest installment. If it seems off, simply blame the drugs, they made me do it this way ;)

Thanks for reading, reviewing, following, and favoriting this story, you are all amazing, wonderful, awesome, and deserve snowflake shaped cookies! With frosting! Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Rise of the Guardians...

~~RiseOfTheGuardians~~

Jack's eyes widened in surprise at that reaction and he glanced over at Sandy. Sandy, whose own eyes were as wide as saucers and had pictures flashing over his head so fast Jack could only just make out the gist of it: _What?_

Jack chuckled nervously under the stares of the four other guardians plus Phil and nine tooth fairies. "Listen, it's not that big a deal," he said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Who else?" Bunny asked, teeth clenched so that his voice came out muffled.

"What was that?" Jack asked, blinking innocently at Bunny.

"Who else, Jack," Tooth asked, moving to run a hand through Jack's hair for comfort, but Jack ducked away from her.

He moved with more grace than was fair for someone who had just spent the past six days more or less unconscious and was soon standing in front of the open windows, closing his eyes to the caress of the wind.

"Jack," North said, stepping forward slightly, but nervously. The last thing he wanted was for Jack to take off. But, then again, Jack wasn't holding his staff, so that wasn't really possible, was it?

"What?" Jack asked, still facing the landscape of snow and ice.

"You know what," North said.

Jack sighed. "It doesn't matter now," he pointed out. "Those times are in the past."

"Times?" Bunny asked. "How many times?"

"Well, uh," Jack said. They watched as he cast a quick glace at his staff, which was leaning against the wall opposite from where he was standing.

Sandy drifted over until he floated beside Jack, a question mark hanging above his head.

"That was only the fifth time," Jack said quickly. "Like I said, not a big deal."

Bunny and North exchanged glances as Tooth pressed a hand to her mouth. Three other times Jack had been through that pain, and those times it was obvious he was alone for it.

Sandy met Jack's eyes with his own sorrowful ones, hoping to convey what he was feeling.

Jack smiled, actually smiled. "There's no need to look so sad about it," Jack said. "It's not like it was your fault, you weren't even around, so how could you know about it."

Though Jack hadn't meant to, he had spoken exactly what the guardians didn't want to voice out loud, what they feared. They _weren't _there when he had his staff broken before. They _weren't _there to stop it from happening, or to help pick up the pieces when it was done.

Sure, it wasn't their _fault, _but for them, it felt like it. If they had just taken the time to get to know Jack, to befriend the lonely winter spirit, then maybe Jack wouldn't have had to go through that sort of thing alone.

"Jack, we are," North began.

"Don't," Jack said, cutting the Russian off. "Like I said, there's nothing for you to apologize for."

"But, we shoulda been there, mate," Bunny said. He knew, just knew, that if he ever ran into the others who had done this to Jack, well, they wouldn't be leaving in any condition to snap a twig in half, let alone Jack's staff.

"We should have been there to stop it," Tooth said. She was prepared to empty her piggy bank if it meant collecting the teeth of everyone who had broken Jack's staff. ALL of their teeth.

Jack laughed at that, remembering the other times his staff had been broken.

"We should have been there to stop others from touching it," North said, clenching his fists. He didn't care what Jack said, it _was_ a big deal. Jack may want to down play it, but North had been there when April had snapped his staff. North had heard the agonized scream that had resulted in said staff being broken. And North had been there to witness how much energy it had taken for Jack to fix his staff once more. There was no way it _wasn't_ a big deal.

And yet, Jack was still chuckling, shaking his head. "Somehow, I don't think that would have helped."

Images of the guardians flashed above Sandy's head as Jack watched.

"No," Jack said. "I know you all would have done anything in your power to stop it, and I'm grateful for that."

"But you don't think us being there would have mattered?" Bunny asked. He didn't like the idea that Jack didn't think they would have helped him the other times. Of course, they _hadn't_, which only made Bunny feel even worse. But, had he known Jack before, had known what losing his staff did to the boy, Bunny _knew_ he would have done anything he could have to protect him from that pain. And it was quite obvious to Bunny that breaking Jack's staff was painful to him.

"Well, maybe for that one time, with Sam Hain," Jack mused. Of course, Sam Hain hadn't given Jack much opportunity at all to stop him from breaking his staff, but maybe if the other guardians had been there…

Jack shook his head. What did it matter? That was in the past, and Sam was actually Jack's friend now that he was more fun loving and prankster, instead of all about scaring people and predicting death.

Jack smiled as he remembered the prank they had played together last Halloween. Now _there _was something mortals and immortals alike would not forget in a long time.

"The spirit of Halloween?" Tooth asked.

"He broke your staff before?" North spluttered, feeling the anger rise once more.

"But, he's you're buddy in crime," Bunny said, feeling anger and confusion war within him. "Why, just last year you-"

"Don't say it!" Tooth shrieked as the tooth fairies started chattering excitedly about the latest Halloween prank. "Now you've got them all worked up!"

"Sorry," Bunny said, holding up his hands. "Ladies, don't get any ideas. That was a bloody nightmare."

Jack grinned. "Ah, yeah. Good times."

"Jack, you are saying Sam Hain broke your staff?" North said, bringing everyone back to the present.

"Yeah, like, a long time ago," Jack admitted. "But we're cool now."

"I don't understand how you can just forgive him," Bunny said. "Or the others. Or us, that easily."

Jack shrugged. "It's no fun holding a grudge," he said with an easy smile. And it was true, grudges tended to ruin fun, and Jack was the Guardian of Fun, he couldn't ruin it.

"Seriously?" Bunny asked, rolling his eyes. Jack could try to be angry for longer than that. It frustrated the Pooka that he could just move on that easily. It had frustrated him when Jack had turned up to help them after they shut him out in their battle against Pitch. After all, Jack should have been angry for weeks, not merely a few hours before coming to their rescue.

Not that Bunny wasn't glad Jack had shown up, after all, without the winter spirit they all would have lost to Pitch, but still. The boy could pretend he was something more than snowballs and fun times. He could pretend that angry words and harmful actions lasted longer than a melting snowflake.

Then again, if that were the case, Jack wouldn't be Jack, and Bunny liked Jack just the way he was. An annoying kid who was exactly like the younger brother Bunny wished he had.

"But why did he break it?" Tooth asked. She couldn't get over the fact that Jack could be such good friends with someone who had hurt him so deeply before. But, in thinking about it, her and her fellow guardians had done roughly the same thing to Jack in ignoring him for the better part of 300 years. If anything, Sandy was the only one slightly less guilty than the rest of them. At least the dream maker had attempted to befriend the boy at times. And if Jack couldn't get over the offenses against him so easily and become friends with others, well, they would have lost against Pitch and none of them would be here, where they were.

"Oh, just frosted some things I wasn't supposed to," Jack said. "I really don't remember specifics."

"What about the other two times, Jack?" North asked. He certainly was filled with wonder at this boy who he believed he had taught so much to, but was in fact being a teacher to North. And it amazed North that Jack could teach him things he thought he learned long ago. "You said we wouldn't have been able to help?"

"Yeah, well, 'cause," Jack said, but fell silent. He rested his hand against a pane of glass on the open window, creating a frost-bird. Focusing slightly, he pulled his hand away, willing the bird to follow.

The guardians gasped as the frost-bird pulled away and took flight around the room, circling each of their heads before bursting into soft snowfall, sparkling like silver as it fell to the cold bedroom floor. Never before had they seen Jack work winter magic without his staff, unless they counted him fixing his staff.

Sandy was the first to turn back towards Jack. It had been a beautiful display of magic, one that Sandy was enthralled with. Many times the two of them had sat together on Sandy's cloud of sand and together they had created things of frost and gold. But never had Sandy seen Jack do something like he had just done, and Sandy wanted to know where Jack had learned that.

But when he turned back to the window Jack had been in, the winter spirit was gone.

Sandy flew out the window and looked around, only just catching sight of a figure in the distance, racing on the wind. Turning back to the room, he noticed the missing staff.

"Bloody Frostbite," Bunny said.

"Why would he run off?" Tooth asked.

"My guessing?" North said. "He was done answering questions."

"Huh. Wonder if he realizes he's stark naked under that shirt?"


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: **Hey all, sorry it's taken me so long to post this! Thank you all for your well wishes, reviews, favorites, and follows! I appreciate it very much, you are all awesome!

This next part is pretty short, and totally got away from me, but enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Rise of the Guardian

~~RiseOfTheGuardians~~

Jack was halfway to Burgess before he realized he was rather lacking in the clothing department. He hesitated, stopping midair and letting the wind whip around him as he thought.

He didn't particularly want to return to Santoff Claussen, at least not yet. He was grateful to the others for caring for him and being concerned about him, but he had to admit, it was stifling to have them all huddled around him like that. That, and the fact that he didn't want to return because he had snuck out without clothes. He would never hear the end of it from Bunny.

Jack chewed his lip in thought. For the most part he was still invisible to the world, so he wasn't worried about flying over some village and giving some old lady a heart attack. But where he was going, he _was_ visible to the children. And he _wanted _to be seen. But not without proper clothes on.

Jack wavered and was about to return to Santoff Claussen to sneak into his room and hopefully retrieve his clothes without being seen when a different idea struck him. He smiled.

Conferring with the wind, Jack was soon on his way once more, moments later landing lightly on his feet in front of an old, abandoned mansion. And old, spooky, abandoned mansion.

Jack walked up the steps, which creaked, and rang the doorbell, which shrieked. He didn't wait long before the door slowly squeaked open and a skeletal face revealed itself.

"Jack Frost, what a surprise," Sam Hain exclaimed when he caught sight of his fellow mischief worker standing on the steps to his haunted mansion. "I didn't expect to see you until Halloween. Don't you have somewhere that needs frosting? Or children that need guarding?"

Jack grinned. "Well, actually, I came to ask a favor." Jack was glad that his becoming a Guardian hadn't changed the way Sam treated him.

Sam eyed his friend, taking in his current outfit. "Planning a Halloween prank a little early are we? You know, I have much better costumes if you are trying to appear, what exactly are you dressed as is it? Ghostly?"

"Uh, that's why I'm here, actually. I was wondering if you had something else for me to wear?"

"Why of course, come in, come in, we can find you something ghastly."

Sam flung the door wide and Jack stepped into the haunted mansion, which was actually quite nice on the inside. The wooden floors were polished with plush rugs adding warmth, bright lights glittered in chandeliers that hung in the high vaulted ceilings, and furniture was grouped around a merrily crackling fireplace, a discarded book lying on one of the overstuffed armchairs.

"Let's see here," Sam said, flinging open a door to reveal a large room filled with costumes. "What about a vampire? I hear kids are very into those now a days, of course they believe they sparkle now, so not very scary. Where they got the silly idea that a blood sucking, life ending entity would sparkle, I'll never know. Hmm, a werewolf, you could be a werewolf, terrifying creatures. Although it isn't the full moon, not for seven more days, so never mind on that. What else, what else?"

"Actually, I was wondering if you had something a little, well, more normal. You know, regular everyday clothing."

Sam turned to look at Jack. "Something normal you say?"

"Yes," Jack said.

"Well, what about your old clothes, those ratty old pants and that sweatshirt Phil gave you?"

"I kinda left them at Santoff Claussen, and well…"

Sam laughed. "Attention not exactly everything you were expecting, is it?"

"It's a little more overwhelming than what I was expecting," Jack explained.

"So you got out in a hurry," Sam chuckled. "Leaving your clothes behind."

Jack nodded, a slight flush on his cheeks.

"Well now, I've never had to supply regular clothes before, but costumes these days come in all styles, let's see what we can cook up, shall we?"

Jack smiled, relieved. Sam was one of those people who helped others with minimal explanation needed and accepted people for who they were. At least, that's what he was now. He certainly had changed since their meeting so long ago where the man had broken his staff in half for 'ruining' All Hallow's Eve.

Jack was still standing there when a pair of jeans smacked him in the face. Startled, he grabbed at them before they fell to the floor. Before he had a chance to look at them, a long sleeved black shirt landed on his head, followed by a pair of bright orange boxers.

"Those should be your size, although you are so skinny those jeans might just fall off," Sam said, amusement in his eyes.

"Thanks," Jack said, entering the side room, which he knew was a dressing room from previous visits.

He hurriedly pulled on the boxers, which had a jack-o-lantern face on the back, then followed them with the jeans. The jeans had multiple tears in the legs and a large hole in the right knee. What was up with that? Jack wondered.

He pulled off the oversized white t-shirt and pulled on the black shirt. Jack stared at himself in the mirror with a frown, tugging at the jeans. Kids really wore these? He thought. They were uncomfortable, with no real stretch, and he felt rather restricted in them.

"It'll have to do," Jack sighed, knowing he could reclaim his old clothes once he returned to Santoff Claussen and fended off the myriad of questions he knew would be pelted at him.

Sam nearly broke out laughing when Jack stepped out of the changing room. Jack looked just like any other teenager in those clothes and it was clear he was uncomfortable.

"What?" Jack asked.

"Oh, you'll fit right in at all the parties," Sam said. "Now, care for a cup of pumpkin rootbeer before you leave?

"Sure," Jack said. He never turned down Sam's offer of rootbeer, which the skeletal immortal brewed in a huge pumpkin. It was delicious, even if you had to pick out parts of pumpkin sometimes.

"Perfect," Sam said. "And you can fill me in on how you came into this predicament."

"Great," Jack muttered.

"I'm kidding, you don't have to speak of it," Sam said. "How about we plan what we want to do this year. After all, after last year, we've got to do something spooktacular!"


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N:** Well, here's the next installment! Sorry for the long wait and thanks for being patient. I really have no excuse other than the flight of my muse, or the fact that a fox got into my plot bunnies and I find myself at a loss without them...

Anyways, Thank you all for your reviews, they make me smile and generally brighten my day! And thank you to those who have favorited and followed and read my story, you are all amazing and I appreciate the support you offer!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Rise of the Guardians...if I did, I wouldn't be pining for it to be released on DVD (which happens in 3 days!), I would already have it. And I would have a sequel out. Just saying.

~~RiseOfTheGuardians~~

"Shouldn't he have been back by now?" Bunny asked, pacing in North's office.

"North, what if something happened to him? What if he needs our help?" Tooth asked as Baby Tooth chirped next to her.

North sighed. He himself felt the overwhelming urge to find Jack screaming at him. But he also understood why Jack had taken off. They may not have meant to hover, but as Sandy had said, they had hovered. A lot. And it had most likely been overwhelming for the boy.

"He just needs time," North said, fighting his own need to assure himself Jack was okay. "He'll be back when he's ready."

"But North," Bunny said. "He fled before telling us the other two times his staff broke. What if, I don't know, what if those two times were so bad he can't even talk about it?"

"And we brought it up," Tooth said. "Making him relive it. Memories can be a powerful thing. He could be hurting far more now and needs us to talk to about it."

North glanced at Sandy, who was floating, asleep, in front of the fireplace.

"We should go find him, mate," Bunny said.

"Just to make sure he's okay," Tooth said.

"Jack Frost is just fine," came a melodic voice from the open workshop doors. Baby Tooth squeaked, ducking behind Tooth. All eyes turned to see Sam Hain leaning against the door frame, watching them.

"And how do you know?" Bunny asked, reaching for his boomerangs. He hadn't forgotten Jack mentioning Sam in conjunction with breaking his staff.

"Because I was just with him," Sam said. "He came to requisition some clothing after running out of here in nothing but a shirt."

"Jack came to you?" Tooth asked, a flicker of jealousy igniting in her chest. They were the ones Jack was supposed to turn to, not someone who had once hurt him. _But,_ a small voice whispered in her mind,_ you've hurt him in the past too. Maybe not in the same way, but you've hurt him too._

"Why would he do this?" North demanded. "Why not just come back here?" After all, here was home. Or, at least, North wanted Jack to consider it home.

"Because," Sam said. "Jack's been a loner for 300 years. It takes time to adjust to people hovering over you, it takes time to adjust to people caring for you. Jack is adjusting well and it's quite obvious he has come to view you as family. But some things can be overwhelming."

"So what are you saying?" Bunny asked. He didn't want to forgive Sam for what he had done to Jack all those years ago, but what Sam had implied made Bunny cringe. They had left Jack alone for 300 years. Maybe they were at fault just as much as Sam.

"Merely give him time," Sam said, pushing away from the doorframe. "He'll come home when he's ready." And with that, Sam disappeared, leaving the Guardians to stare after the empty doorway.

"He's as creepy as Pitch," Bunny said, relaxing his grip on his boomerangs.

Tooth and Baby Tooth nodded as Sandy slept on.

_"He'll come home when he's ready."_ The words echoed in North's head, and his found his heart soaring. Those words meant, well, that Jack considered Santoff Claussen his home. It was definitely a step in the right direction.

"So we wait for Jack to come back to find out how he broke his staff the other two times?" Tooth asked, looking at North.

"Yes," North said. "We wait. I think that is best move for now."

Floating by the fire, his back turned to the others, Sandy smiled.

~~RiseOfTheGuardians~~

It didn't take Jack long to decide he really, really didn't like jeans. They were heavy, rode low on his hips, and the extra fabric around his legs flapped weirdly in the wind, making it harder to fly with any sense of grace.

Jack let out a deep breath and pulled his jeans up higher on his waist, searching the landscape below. He could spot it well before it was truly in view. The one place he could always go to, the one place that had ever truly been a home to him. The wind whipped around him playfully, tossing him up higher into the sky before letting him down.

Jack laughed, knowing it was the wind's way of saying: "Welcome Home!"

"Thanks," Jack whispered and the wind rustled through his hair.

Jack landed in the middle of the lake, the water rippling out from where he had touched down to freeze in the intricate pattern of small waves. Jack touched his staff down, sending his powers deep into the water and out toward the edges until the whole lake was as frozen solid as if he had never been gone.

"Jack!"

Jack spun around at the sound of his name and was nearly knocked over as Jamie Bennett ran head long into him, throwing arms around him to pull Jack into a hug.

Jack laughed, returning the hug. "Hey kiddo, miss me?"

Jamie nodded, face pressed against Jack's chest. "Sandman said you were sick, and that's why your lake melted."

"Ah, well," Jack said as Jamie pulled back to look him in the eyes. "Nothing worse than when you got the flu a while back."

Jack smiled but Jamie still looked worried.

"But Sandman seemed really worried about you," Jamie said. "And your lake melted! I've never seen it melt in all of my life!"

Jack thought for a minute. He didn't want to worry Jamie, the attack on him from the other immortals was nothing he wanted to tell Jamie because Jamie was just a kid.

"We Guardians don't get sick much, so of course Sandy was worried about me, he didn't know what being sick was. As for my lake, well, as it turns out, I was, uh, running a fever, and my powers got a little out of whack. But everything's fine now."

"Promise?" Jamie asked.

"Would I lie to you?" Jack grinned and finally Jamie cracked a smile of his own. "Now come on, I've got some time, why don't we go get those friends of yours for a little ice skating?"

"Okay!" Jamie said, a bounce in his step as he started slipping his way back across the lake to the shore. He paused, turning back towards Jack, a confused expression crossing his face. "What are you wearing?"

Jack laughed. "I thought I'd try something new."

Jamie nodded. "I like it."

"Yeah kid, me too," Jack said as he followed Jamie, who was wearing jeans and blue t-shirt, across the ice.

~~RiseOfTheGuardians~~

Jack lay balanced on a tree branch, blue eyes studying the stars as golden dreamsand drifted past. He didn't need to turn to know that Sandy had just floated down beside him.

"Hey Sandy," Jack said, raising a hand to run his fingers through the flowing stream of gold. A flurry of golden snowflakes burst from the stream to float around Jack. Jack looked over at Sandy, who was sitting peacefully on his cloud. A question mark appeared over Sandy's head.

"Jamie said you visited him, while I was recovering."

Sandy nodded.

"He said you were worried."

Again, Sandy nodded his head.

"About me?"

Another nod.

"Why?"

Sandy met Jack's eyes at this, hundreds of images flashing overhead, the main one being the five Guardians together. The message was clear. 'Because you're family and we care about you, did you really have to ask?'

Jack laughed. "Sorry, didn't mean to sound ungrateful. It's just," Jack sighed. "I'm still not used to this. Having people that care about me. People that worry about me. It's different."

Another question mark.

"I like it," Jack confirmed. "It's just gonna take time getting used to it, that's all."

Sandy nodded, turning to watch as his golden streams twined their way into the peaceful town. They sat in companionable silence, each content to watch the stars and dreams that surrounded them slowly fade to give way to the rising sun.

"Guess the others will be worried, huh?" Jack asked.

Sandy nodded.

"I'm fine, you know," Jack said. "You don't need to worry."

Sandy gave Jack a look, and this time there was no need for images to communicate his meaning.

Jack nodded, leaping lightly off his branch and letting the wind catch him and pull him into the sky. "Well, I can't let Kangaroo have all the fun in Santa's workshop. Besides, I hate these pants."

Sandy laughed, following Jack as they made their way towards Santoff Claussen. He had to admit, Jack looked just like any teenage kid in those clothes. But it was obvious the kid was uncomfortable. Sandy just hoped the new pair of pants they had made for him would work, considering the fact that his old pair had been ruined.

"And I'm _not_ telling anymore stories," Jack said, spinning midair to face Sandy. "It's not like it's important how my staff broke in the past anyways."

Sandy shook his head and Jack turned and continued flying. _He_ wouldn't press Jack on the details, it was obvious Jack didn't want to talk about it. However, Sandy couldn't guarantee that the others would leave Jack alone about it.

Suppressing a sigh, Sandy resigned himself to being the mediator once again for whom he considered his younger siblings as they squabbled over particulars. It seemed that this was his new role in their little family ever since Jack came into their lives. And although it gave Sandman a headache most of the time, he wouldn't have it any other way.

FINIS

Well, there you have it, short I know, I'm sorry.

I don't know if I will continue this story past this as this seems like a good place to end it. I know many of you have requested a story from the Guardians' and Immortals' point of view concerning chapter 6 of Broken. I may or may not do that, but it will not be in this story here.

Once again, thank you all for your support, reviews, follows, and favorites. I know this chapter was super short, and that's not very nice to make you wait for so long for this short chapter and to find out this is the end. I really wasn't planning on ending it yet, it's just how it came out. Like I said, I may or may not make another story, but watch for it, its more possible than not, especially once I watch the movie again. Maybe then my plot bunnies and muse will return to me.

For now, thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
